NCT06832891

Patient Preferences in Empathetic Communication by AI vs Human Authorship

A Survey of Patient Preferences on Empathetic Communication in Outpatient Palliative Care

• Status: Completed
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 202 (actual)
• Sponsor: Mayo Clinic · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This study aims to evaluate whether patients have different preference patterns for empathetic communication through AI vs human-being when knowledge of authorship is known vs blinded.

Detailed description

Hypothesis: Patients will express increased preference for human-generated empathetic communication vs AI-generated empathetic communication when they are made aware of authorship vs when blinded to it. Aims, purpose, or objectives: Evaluate if patients have different preference patterns for empathetic communication through AI vs human-being when knowledge of authorship is known vs blinded Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly gaining a foothold in the healthcare industry. AI's role in healthcare can largely be divided into two sets of tasks: Those which involve direct interaction with patients and those which do not. Many tasks which do not directly interact with patients, such as monitoring and resupplying medications, delivering goods across a hospital, and analyzing practice trends and outcomes are highly likely to benefit from the efficiency, cost-savings, and consistency AI can provide. Tasks involving direct patient interaction are considerably more controversial. Understanding of how patients will respond to AI communication remains quite limited which is concerning considering the rapid expansion of AI into the healthcare space. A logical first step to investigate is to see if patients react to AI communication when they are blinded to it vs when authorship is known. This concept has previously been tested in other industries such as business and the law, but patient communication preference in healthcare has been little studied, especially in palliative care. It is the aim of this study to investigate this.

Conditions

• Preference, Patient

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Survey	Patients complete survey

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-04-21
• Primary completion: 2025-06-30
• Completion: 2025-06-30
• First posted: 2025-02-18
• Last updated: 2025-08-14

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States