Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Artificial intelligence is a transformative tool for improving healthcare delivery and diagnostic accuracy in the medical and dental fields. This study aims to assess the readiness of future healthcare workers for artificial intelligence and address this gap by examining students' perceptions, attitudes, and knowledge related to AI in Peshawar, Pakistan. METHODS: A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted on 423 students from randomly chosen medical and dental colleges. The Medical AI Readiness Scale (MAIRS-MS) was used to perform a self-administered online questionnaire that was used to gather data. Using SPSS software, descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were used to evaluate the data. The level of significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: From multiple medical and dental colleges, 407 students participated in this survey. The survey showed that 29.7% of students had low, 62.2% had moderate, and only 8.1% had high readiness levels. Most medical and dental students in Peshawar, Pakistan, showed moderate readiness. There were significant gender discrepancies, showing males dominating females in readiness scores. There were only slight differences in the AI readiness scores and the academic years from the 1st to 5th year. Only a few non-Pakistani students responded, which may hinder conclusive determinations regarding national disparities. CONCLUSION: The study revealed moderate AI readiness among participants, with significant gender disparities favouring males. Overall, there were no significant differences between dentistry and medical fields. In-depth analysis by domain and knowledge areas might uncover further distinctions. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not Applicable.