DELEGA(I)TING HEALTHCARE TASKS – A Qualitative Analysis of AI Delegation Factors for Healthcare Professionals

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to tackle the challenges of the healthcare industry by relieving the workforce and reducing costs. As the capabilities of AI advance, it becomes more capable of conducting sophisticated tasks autonomously, such as detecting symptoms and suggesting treatments. To realize these benefits, AI needs to be embedded into daily medical practice. In this context, understanding how and under which circumstances healthcare professionals delegate tasks to AI is crucial for a successful integration. Hence, we investigate drivers of task delegation to AI in healthcare by conducting interviews with 30 physicians from a wide range of disciplines. We find that task delegation in healthcare differs from general AI task delegation frameworks and even within activities of healthcare. Moreover, we confirm our findings through a qualitative comparative analysis. Thereby, our work contributes to understanding why and based on which factors physicians are willing to delegate tasks to AI.