Development and evaluation of a new education programme in Artificial IntelligenceS
MR Sweeney, S Yang, M Di PumpoAbstract
Background
The rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping Healthcare and Public Health landscapes, offering unprecedented opportunities for enhancing diagnostics, treatment, resource allocation, and population health monitoring and management. Many healthcare and public health professionals feel underprepared to navigate the opportunities/challenges posed by AI.
Objectives
This aim of this project was to develop and evaluate a new educational programme designed to enhance AI literacy amongst healthcare and public health professionals across the EU.
Methods
Development: We designed and developed a 12-week programme. Evaluation: We administered questionnaires to participants who completed the programme capturing AI literacy levels at baseline and after successful completion of the programme as well as their experiences of taking the programme.
Results
A total of 77 responses were analyzed, including 45 collected prior to the intervention and 32 following its completion. AI literacy increased markedly after the educational program, with mean scores rising from 3.77 (SD 1.85) at baseline to 6.77 (SD 1.58) post-intervention. This corresponded to a mean difference of 3.01 (95% CI 2.23–3.79), which was statistically significant (p < 0.001) and associated with a large effect size (Cohen’s d = 1.73).
Conclusions
These results suggest that our programme enhanced AI literacy levels among healthcare and public health professionals. As AI continues to be integrated into clinical and public health practice, such interventions are likely to be essential to ensure that professionals are equipped to use these technologies effectively, critically, and responsibly. This programme could be adopted across all member states in the EU.
Key messages
• Training in AI is required to upskill healthcare and public health professionals.
• This CPD enhanced AI literacy in the programme participants across all the domains explored in this project.