Public perceptions of AI in healthcare: a large-scale BERTopic and sentiment analysis of Reddit discussions
Zaiyu Tang, Wenbao Ma, Zhipeng Bai, Jiahe Liang, Yandong Xie · 2026
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Description
Zaiyu Tang and co-authors mine in 2026 more than thirty-six thousand Reddit posts to learn how the public talks about artificial intelligence in health care. Posts and comments from 2020 to 2025 were sorted by a topic model and scored for sentiment. Fourteen topics grouped into six domains, from human-centered care and medical services to regulation and cultural views.
Positive posts slightly outweighed negative ones, with a large neutral middle. Worries clustered around immature technology, commercial motives, privacy and safety risks, and fear of doctors being displaced. Sentiment shifted over time, notably after generative AI tools spread widely. The authors advise transparent communication, clearer rules, and workforce planning so that public trust can keep pace with medical AI's rollout.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Zaiyu Tang, Wenbao Ma, Zhipeng Bai, Jiahe Liang, Yandong Xie |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 89 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |