Patients Describe Benefits and Comfort Factors With Ambient AI Scribes

Ambient artificial intelligence scribes record clinical conversations to support documentation, but their effects on patients’ experiences are not well understood. Researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 patients from several ambulatory specialties, including primary care and dermatology. Their clinicians were participating in a pragmatic randomized clinical trial of ambient AI scribe implementation. The researchers analyzed interview responses using both predefined and inductively identified themes; recruitment ended before thematic saturation was reached.

Patients described perceived benefits including greater respect for their preferences through fewer distractions, more thorough visit notes and more time for clinicians to answer questions. Comfort with the technology was associated with factors such as prior exposure to similar tools, whether the device drew attention, privacy concerns, the existing patient-clinician relationship and anticipated benefits to care.

The findings offer qualitative insight into patient perspectives, not evidence that scribes improve clinical outcomes or that the reported benefits apply broadly. The small sample and interviews conducted before thematic saturation limit the conclusions. The study does not establish effects on privacy or documentation accuracy, and its participants’ clinicians were involved in a trial at one academic medical center.