Title : Challenges on the facilitation of implementation of artificial intelligence in public hospitals in south Africa

Introduction: Artificial intelligence (AI) is the greatest technological revolution of healthcare in this digital age. Today AI has challenged and shifted the way healthcare is perceived by the public, as it has moved the practice from contact patient care to digital, including moving from paper trail record keeping to electronic records. However, there are challenges on the implementation of AI in scarce resourced African countries like South Africa. These challenges span from shortage of healthcare resources, corruption, poor service delivery and escalating poverty.

Purpose: the purpose of this study was to explore and describe the challenges on the facilitation of the implementation of AI in public hospitals in South Africa.

Design and methods: A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design and phenomenological approach was adopted. Five phases were followed to conduct this study. Phenomenological individual interviews and focus groups were used to collect data and a thematic data analysis method was used. Trustworthiness measures and ethical principles were upheld throughout the study.

Findings and conclusion: Four main themes as findings of the study; 1) Negative perceptions related to AI, 2) limited knowledge, 3) Lack of resources, and 4) Negative emotions. Challenges on the facilitation of AI in developing countries in Africa such as South Africa should be urgently addressed to Fastrack and increase AI uptake.

To be updated shortly..