The news: Consumers who are more familiar with AI are also more likely to mistrust an AI-assisted diagnosis from their doctor, per a recently published Journal of Medical Internet Research survey of 1,762 US adults.

Digging into the data: Most people trust doctors over AI for diagnoses.

• All respondents trusted their doctor less both professionally and personally when they learned their doctor uses AI for diagnostics.
• Respondents who self-identified as very knowledgeable about AI trusted the assisted diagnoses the least.

What it means: Consumers broadly distrust AI assistance in healthcare diagnostics, even when their doctors tell them about using it. In fact, the more someone knows about AI, the more they are skeptical of it, as they become more familiar with its risks and limitations.

Why it matters: Trust in healthcare is already shaky, and AI usage can make it worse. But 66% of physicians are using it in their practices, per the AMA, because it helps them be more efficient and effective.

• AI-supported mammogram readings detected 20% more cancers than radiologists only in a study of 80,000 mammography images in Sweden. 
• 63% of physicians are optimistic that AI can improve patient care, but only 48% of patients feel the same way, per the Philip’s Future Health Index 2025 report.
• AI-generated patient messages were more detailed and more empathetic than notes written by physicians in a JAMA Network Open study. Still, patients were more satisfied when told a doctor wrote the note, even if they didn’t.

Our take: Physicians and healthcare marketers can’t assume people who are familiar with AI will be more comfortable with AI uses in healthcare. Marketers need to talk about AI as a tool with many positive effects like freeing doctors for longer personal interactions and resulting in fewer mistakes.

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