New research from The Alan Turing Institute has uncovered how doctors in the UK feel about AI—with nearly a third (29%) of doctors already having used some form of AI in their practice in the last 12 months.

The Institute’s latest survey, which gathered 929 responses from a sample of doctors on the UK medical register, also uncovered that more than half (52%) of respondents are optimistic about AI’s use in healthcare.

However, despite AI becoming embedded in many doctors’ practice, most indicated that they’re not using AI systems in their work, and more than half (54%) believe that the opportunities presented by AI for the profession are not being fully explored.

Doctors who reported using some form of AI were generally confident in using these systems, and agreed that the outputs are clear and understandable.

That said, while many doctors were positive regarding AI’s potential, the survey found that around a third (32%) of all doctors felt they didn’t fully understand the risks presented by the use of AI in healthcare.

The research also highlighted that there’s some uncertainty over who’s responsible for decisions that were supported by AI systems. Nearly 70% of the respondents said they hadn’t received adequate training to understand their professional responsibilities when using these systems.

While AI systems have significant potential to support clinicians when making decisions to help improve efficiency and patient outcomes, the researchers believe it’s key that practitioners feel supported to use these systems effectively in their work.

“It‘s encouraging to see that medical professionals are mostly positive about the opportunities of AI in medicine,” said Youmna Hashem, report author and a researcher for the Institute’s AI for Public Services team. “But our research shows that better training is needed to fully realise the full potential of AI and to help doctors feel confident using it in their roles.”

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Dr Jonathan Bright, the Institute’s head of online safety and AI for public services, added: “AI has the potential to revolutionise our healthcare system by helping doctors to make important decisions about the diagnosis and treatment of their patients.

“This survey provides valuable insight into how doctors feel about AI as well as their experience using it so far. We are optimistic that AI will continue to make efficiencies and advance progress in healthcare.”