Exploring Differential Perceptions of Artificial Intelligence in Health Care Among Younger Versus Older Canadians: Results From the 2021 Canadian Digital Health Survey

The changing landscape of health care has led to the incorporation of powerful new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) to assist with various services across a hospital. However, despite the potential outcomes that this tool may provide, little work has examined public opinion regarding their use.

In this study, we aim to explore differences between younger versus older Canadians with regard to the level of comfort and perceptions around the adoption and use of AI in health care settings.

Using data from the 2021 Canadian Digital Health Survey (n=12,052), items related to perceptions about the use of AI as well as previous experience and satisfaction with health care were identified. We conducted Mann-Whitney U tests to compare the level of comfort of younger versus older Canadians regarding the use of AI in health care for a variety of purposes. Multinomial logistic regression was used to predict the comfort ratings based on categorical indicators.

Younger Canadians had greater knowledge of AI, but older Canadians were more comfortable with AI applied to monitoring and predicting health conditions, decision support, diagnostic imaging, precision medicine, drug and vaccine development, disease monitoring at home, tracking epidemics, and optimizing workflow to save time. Additionally, for older respondents, higher satisfaction led to higher comfort ratings. Only 1 interaction effect was identified between previous experience, satisfaction, and comfort with AI for drug and vaccine development.

Older Canadians may be more open to various applications of AI within health care than younger Canadians. High satisfaction may be a critical criterion for comfort with AI, especially for older Canadians. Additionally, in the case of drug and vaccine development, previous experience may be an important moderating factor. We conclude that gaining a greater understanding of the perceptions of all health care users is integral to the implementation and sustainability of new and cutting-edge technologies in health care settings.