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Changes in the acceptance of artificial intelligence in medicine among physicians and the general public in Japan: A repeated cross-sectional comparison of 2018 and 2025

Author summary Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used in healthcare, where it may support diagnosis, treatment decision-making, and clinical operations. As AI technologies have advanced and become more familiar in society, attitudes toward medical AI may also have changed. However, greater familiarity with AI does not necessarily mean that physicians or members of the public are more willing to receive care led by AI. To examine these changes, we compared two online surveys conducted in Japan in 2018…

By the Truvace desk2 min read1 sourceJournalismTRV-2026-2231· cite & verify
Changes in the acceptance of artificial intelligence in medicine among physicians and the general public in Japan: A repeated cross-sectional comparison of 2018 and 2025

In brief

Researchers compared two online surveys fielded in Japan in 2018 and 2025 using the same questionnaire, one set of respondents being physicians and the other the general public. Both groups still saw medical AI as useful and necessary in future, yet their stated intention to use it was not significantly different between the two years.

The result matters because it suggests that exposure to AI does not automatically build trust in relatively autonomous medical AI. What remains unclear is which concerns drive hesitancy, since the supplied text is only the author summary and the start of the abstract, and it gives no further detail on methods or sample sizes.

Main points

  1. The study is a repeated cross-sectional comparison of 2018 and 2025 online surveys in Japan using the same questionnaire.
  2. Physicians and the public both continued to recognize the usefulness and future necessity of medical AI.
  3. Intention to use medical AI did not differ significantly between survey years in either group.
  4. Physicians' higher expectations of efficiency gains in the unadjusted comparison were no longer significant after adjusting for age and sex.
  5. Self-rated knowledge among the public rose in 2025, as did expectations of higher healthcare costs.

The problem

Greater public knowledge of medical AI by 2025 did not translate into greater willingness to use autonomous AI-led care, and public expectations of higher healthcare costs grew.

The rundown

The authors frame the work around a question that remains open: whether growing societal familiarity with AI is accompanied by greater willingness to receive relatively autonomous AI-led care. They note AI may support diagnosis, treatment decision-making, and clinical operations.

Among physicians, expectations that AI could improve clinical efficiency were higher in the unadjusted comparison. That difference disappeared once age and sex were accounted for, so the apparent shift may reflect differences in who responded rather than changed attitudes.

Among members of the public, self-rated knowledge of medical AI was higher in 2025. Expectations that AI would raise healthcare costs were also greater, a persistent concern the authors say must be addressed alongside improved understanding to build informed trust.

Sources

  1. JournalismPLOS (Public Library of Science)2026-10-23

The debate