Parental Perception on Usage of AI Chatbot to Understand Paediatric Otorhinolaryngology Condition: A Survey

Artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots such as ChatGPT have the potential to assist parents and caregivers in understanding their child's general health condition. Despite the potential benefits research on parents perceptions of using AI chatbots is still limited. This study explored parents' and caregivers' perceptions of AI chatbots to understand their child's Otorhinolaryngology (ORL) condition. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among parents or caregivers of children with ORL conditions attending Paediatric ORL clinic over one month. The survey explored the familiarity with AI chatbots, perception, openness, and factors influencing their usage to understand their child's ORL condition. 38 responses were obtained. Awareness of AI chatbots among parents/ caregivers was considered average, with only 52.63% (n = 20) having heard about the technology. A smaller subset used AI chatbots, i.e., ChatGPT (70.00%, n = 14), with 21.43% (n = 3) used ChatGPT specifically for pediatric health-related information. 68.42% preferred the explanation provided by doctors compared to the AI chatbot (n = 26), although the majority agreed that the AI chatbot might help them to understand health information better than traditional resources like web search engines, with 60.53% (n = 23). Most participants (60.53% n = 23) expressed interest in using AI chatbots. High openness was shown when using an AI chatbot to obtain general information about the condition (76.32%, n = 29) and symptom identification (71.05%, n = 7). The participants expressed their interest in adopting ChatGPT for health-related use, such as ease of understanding (68.42%, n = 26), accurate information (65.79%, n = 25), and easing communication with doctors (60.53%, n = 23). We found a high preference for medical consultation with doctors compared to AI chatbots (73.68%, n = 28). Familiarity with AI chatbots and their potential role in healthcare is still scarce in the community. Future research should continue exploring the potential of ChatGPT as a health AI chatbot and increase its accuracy in delivering health-related information.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12070-025-05451-2.