ETHICAL AND MEDICOLEGAL PERSPECTIVES REGARDING AI ADOPTION IN HEALTHCARE A CROSS SECTIONAL ONLINE SURVEY AMONG EGYPTIAN PHYSICIANS

Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) holds promises for enhancing healthcare efficiency. As AI's applications grow, ethical and medicolegal concerns arise. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the perspectives of Egyptian physicians toward AI integration in healthcare, with special emphasis on its ethical and medicolegal implications. Methodology: A cross-sectional study using an anonymous electronic questionnaire was conducted on a convenience sample of Egyptian physicians. The questionnaire included three sections: personal and professional data of participants, perspectives and attitudes of physicians toward AI adoption in healthcare, and ethical and medicolegal implications. Results: Responses were received from 177 physicians. Only 37.3% of participants started using AI tools in their medical practice. Improved diagnostic accuracy was determined by 53.7% of participants as the most beneficial AI application. Limited awareness of AI was the principal obstacle to AI adoption highlighted by 65.5% of participants. 47.5% of physicians were concerned about accountability and medicolegal liability risks. More than half of the participants agreed that significant ethical issues and risks of breaching patient confidentiality are related to AI use. The majority agreed that the physician should ensure that AI-driven medical decisions align with the patient's best interests and that medical AI systems' unexplainable nature would limit patients' autonomy. 57.6% of the participants agreed that physicians should be transparent about using AI in healthcare.61.6% strongly agreed that the physician’s judgment and expertise should guide the application of AI in healthcare. 78.0% of participants showed good scores for awareness of ethical and medicolegal issues. 85.9% of participants exhibited unfamiliarity with any legal regulations guiding AI applications in healthcare. 47.5% of participants identified physicians and healthcare institutions using AI as responsible for medical errors resulting from using AI. Physicians’ age, medical specialty, job level, and affiliated healthcare institute significantly affected awareness scores regarding ethical and medicolegal issues, with P values = 0.004, 0.001, 0.006, < 0.001, respectively. Conclusions: The study revealed that Egyptian physicians generally recognized the importance of AI in medicine. Incorporating ethical and medicolegal considerations in developing AI systems could facilitate the successful adoption of AI in healthcare.