More Unique, More Accepting? Integrating Sense of Uniqueness, Perceived Knowledge, and Perceived Empathy with Acceptance of Medical Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) has had a profound impact on the medical industry. As the ultimate consumers, patients’ acceptance of medical AI plays an important role in realizing its widespread adoption in healthcare. However, previous studies have indicated that patients’ acceptance of medical AI is still inconsistent. This study considered the application of medical AI in different scenarios and divided them into medical AI for diagnosis and treatment (MAI-DT) and medical AI for non-diagnosis and non-treatment (MAI-NDT). Drawing on the theories of uniqueness and dehumanization, this study explored the impacts of patients’ sense of uniqueness (SOU) on their acceptance of medical AI under the two scenarios and the underlying mechanisms. Analysis of the data from 238 samples collected during the COVID-19 period in China showed that participants with a higher SOU had a lower acceptance of MAI-DT but a higher acceptance of MAI-NDT than participants with a lower SOU. In addition, perceived AI knowledge and perceived AI empathy mediated the relationship between the participants’ SOU and their acceptance of AI under the two scenarios. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.