Patient perceptions of empathy in physician and artificial intelligence chatbot responses to patient questions about cancer.

Chen, David; Chauhan, Kabir; Parsa, Rod; Liu, Zhihui Amy; Liu, Fei-Fei; Mak, Ernie; Eng, Lawson; Hannon, Breffni Louise et al. · NPJ Digit Med · 2025

cross_sectional · Level IV

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Abstract

Artificial intelligence chatbots can draft empathetic responses to cancer questions, but how patients perceive chatbot empathy remains unclear. Here, we found that people with cancer rated chatbot responses as more empathetic than physician responses. However, differences between patient and physician perceptions of empathy highlight the need for further research to tailor clinical messaging to better meet patient needs. Chatbots may be effective in generating empathetic template responses to patient questions under clinician oversight.