Paediatric patients’ voices are often overlooked in AI tool design and development despite them being key stakeholders for their deployment in imaging, a study has found.
It is “critical” that the views of children and young people on AI in modern healthcare and particularly imaging are heard, researchers have found.
These findings were revealed in “How I would like AI used for my imaging”: children and young persons’ perspectives, published in scientific journal European Radiology, which involved an online survey of 170 children and young people.
'Accuracy more important than speed'
The study found children and young people mostly agreed or strongly agreed they wanted to know the accuracy of AI tools being used (71.3 per cent), that accuracy was more important than speed (66.1 per cent) and that AI should be used with human oversight (64.3 per cent).
Researchers publicised a national online survey to UK schools, universities and charities partners. A total of 171 people responded to the survey, with ages ranging from 6 to 23 years, and from across all four UK nations.
Some believed AI would be more accurate at finding problems on bone X-rays than humans (42.7 per cent), with almost all respondents who had sustained a missed fracture (12 out of 14) strongly agreeing with that sentiment.
The study said: “Children and young people in our survey had positive views regarding AI, and felt it should be integrated into modern healthcare, but expressed a preference for a ‘medical professional in the loop’ and accuracy of findings over speed.”
Safety, accuracy, and accountability
Key themes regarding information on AI performance and governance were raised alongside the need for assurances of safety, accuracy, and clear accountability in case of failures.
Despite limited uptake, the study is the largest survey of children and young persons views of AI for their medical imaging.
One respondent said: “I think that AI could be extremely helpful but it is vital that we make sure they do not replace humans and their jobs. And also we make sure they are only doing minor jobs so if they mess up then a patient’s life isn’t ruined or risked.”
Another suggested: “I think that if AI is proven to be almost 100 per cent more accurate than humans it should be introduced.”
The study emphasised these should be considered before AI implementation for paediatric healthcare.
It also found these views were largely similar to those of adults, though found adults on average more strongly agreed with the sentiment that it was important to get the scan results as fast as possible.
Data was collected via the online survey made available to UK schools, universities and charity partners from June 2022 to 2023.