Executive Summary

This research aims is to explore factors influencing healthcare workers’ confidence in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and how these can inform the development of related education and training.

This research, which comprises 2 reports, is a collaboration between the NHS Artificial Intelligene (AI) Lab and Health Education England. Its primary aim is to explore the factors influencing healthcare workers’ confidence in AI technologies and how these can inform the development of related education and training.

The research follows the Topol Review (2019) recommendation to develop a healthcare workforce able and willing to use AI and robotics, and is part of Health Education England’s Digital, AI and Robotics Technologies in Education (DART-Ed) programme to understand the impact of advances of these technologies on education and training requirements. Supporting healthcare workers to feel confident in identifying when and how to use AI is a main objective of the NHS AI Lab, and a key component of its vision for the safe, effective, and ethical adoption of AI technologies across health and care

The research involved a review of academic literature and semi-structured interviews exploring experiences of developing and using AI technologies in healthcare settings. Interviewees included healthcare workers in primary and hospital care settings; industry innovators; representatives of related regulatory and arm’s length bodies; and academics who work at the intersection of AI, healthcare, education and clinical confidence.