ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE AND PERCEPTIONS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AMONG DENTAL STUDENTS OF KARACHI, PAKISTAN. A MULTI-CENTER SURVEY

Abstract

For the past few years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a topic of great interest in dentistry. There has been an exponential increase in the usage of AI-based technology in daily dental practice. AI applications are being routinely used to assist dental practitioners in the diagnosis and treatment planning of patients. The purpose of this study was to assess knowledge and perception of AI amongst dental students of Karachi, Pakistan. A multi-center, cross-sectional study was conducted using an online (Google forms) survey. A pre-validated questionnaire comprising of 22 questions was circulated among 5 dental schools of Karachi, Pakistan from December 2021 till January 2022. The questionnaire is comprised of various sections aiming to evaluate the dental students’ knowledge and attitudes toward AI and its possible applications in dentistry. Descriptive analysis and Pearson chisquare test were used for data analysis. A total of 355 students (73.2% female, 26.8% male) responded to the questionnaire. Out of these 58.3% of students had basic knowledge about AI working principles. 74.7% showed agreement that dentistry would be revolutionized by AI. 31.5% of participants showed a neutral opinion that AI could replace them in the future. Furthermore, 85.6% of students responded that AI was not a part of their current undergraduate teaching curriculum moreover 66.0% and 69.1% of the participants agreed that AI should be included in the undergraduate and post-graduate curriculum respectively. Overall, the participants responded towards having low awareness regarding AI but showed a willingness to improve their knowledge in this field. Furthermore, participants showed willingness to include AI in undergraduate and post-graduate teaching curricula.