Would you Trust a Bot for Healthcare Advice? An Empirical Investigation

Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based automated chatbots are seen as an interactive and scalable way to personalize healthcare-related communication with the information seekers. These chatbots can improve accessibility to healthcare services, by serving as the primary point of contact for the patients. It can also empower patients to take quicker and better healthcare decisions. Additionally, it has the potential to improve efficiency by alleviating the pressure on overly burdened healthcare systems. Despite these benefits, the risks associated with the use of this technology could potentially undermine the user’s trust/confidence in the technology and impede its adoption. In this context, we investigated the factors influencing consumer\u27s trust in AI-based health chatbots using an integrated framework based on Technology Trust Model. The study found empirical evidence for four determinants of consumer’s trust in health chatbots namely, social presence, perceived usefulness, safety risk, and propensity to trust. Implications for theory and practice are discussed