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Trusting Generative AI for Health Advice: Preregistered Survey Experiment
Asheley R Landrum1, Nitin Verma2, Amanda Kehrberg1
1Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Arizona State University, 555 N Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ, 85004-1248, United States, 1 602-496-5555.
Journal of Medical Internet Research
|June 22, 2026
Summary
Human nurses are perceived as more credible than AI for health advice. However, intuitive advice and audience skepticism can influence AI credibility, suggesting AI may shift, not erode, health trust.
Area of Science:
- Digital Health
- Artificial Intelligence
- Health Communication
Background:
- Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used for health information seeking.
- Public perception of AI-generated health advice versus clinician guidance is unclear.
- Understanding AI credibility is crucial for digital health integration.
Purpose of the Study:
- Examine how source type (human nurse, AI nurse, general chatbot) influences credibility perceptions.
- Investigate the impact of message characteristics, risk context, and values framing.
- Assess the moderating roles of medical skepticism and prior AI experience.
Main Methods:
- Online experiment with 1502 US adults.
- Random assignment to human nurse, AI nurse, or ChatGPT source conditions.
- Evaluated advice credibility across low-risk, high-risk, and morally sensitive scenarios, manipulating advice type and framing.
Main Results:
- Human nurse advice rated more credible than AI-generated advice.
- Intuitive advice perceived as more credible than counterintuitive advice, especially in high-risk contexts.
- Medical skepticism positively moderated AI nurse competence perception and negatively moderated human nurse competence perception.
Conclusions:
- Generative AI is evaluated within existing credibility frameworks, not dismissed.
- Licensed clinicians retain a credibility advantage, but AI advice is generally seen as competent.
- AI may redistribute trust in health advice, particularly among those skeptical of traditional medical authority.
