Patient perceptions on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in fertility treatment

Congratulations to the team behind a new publication from UCD School of Medicine and Merrion Fertility Clinic, authored by the School’s Dr Niamh Fee (MD candidate), including Dr Louise Glover and Dr David Crosby. Dr Renato Nauman at the Clinic was also involved in the study. The paper is titled, ‘Patients perceptions on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in fertility treatment’.

This cross-sectional survey study sought to investigate the attitudes of fertility patients towards use of AI and large language model (LLM) in their assisted reproduction cycle, including a selection of gametes and embryos for transfer. Findings show that patients have concerns regarding the introduction of AI into fertility care, with men more likely than women to be comfortable. Dominant themes regarding the benefits of AI included its use in assisting clinicians and embryologists, improving efficiency, and reducing error, while dominant themes of patient concerns included human replacement, loss of empathy, and the need for monitoring. 

While much research has focused on development of AI tools for assisted reproduction, this is one of the first studies to focus on how patients perceive and accept the use of AI during their fertility treatment. This important contribution to the field will better inform those working on AI model development in reproductive medicine about how these technologies will be received by patients in the fertility clinic setting.

The study has been published as open access in the international journal Human Fertility, the official publication of the British Fertility Society.

(opens in a new window)Full article: Patient perceptions on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in fertility treatment

Abstract

The objective was to evaluate patient knowledge, attitudes and perceptions on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology within a fertility clinic. Patients were undergoing treatment between June 2024 and December 2024. The Main Outcome Measure(s) were Likert Comfort levels scale and Qualitative analysis of responses. Overall, 206 responses were received. While 41% believed that AI could improve outcomes, most (56%) indicated that they ‘did not know’. Overall, respondents were comfortable with AI being used in administrative tasks (69%), assisting with clinical decisions (67%) and assisting an embryologist (74%). However, respondents were not comfortable with AI alone performing embryo selection (93.1%), conducting semen analysis (89.2%), sperm selection in ICSI (90.2%) or reporting an ultrasound scan (84.5%). Men were more likely to be comfortable with AI alone determining which embryo to transfer (p = 0.0037), conducting semen analysis (p = 0.01), and sperm selection for ICSI (p = 0.02). Dominant themes regarding the benefits of AI included its use as an assistant, improving efficiency, and reducing error, while dominant themes of patient concerns included human replacement, loss of empathy, and the need for monitoring. Patients have concerns regarding the introduction of AI into fertility care, with men more likely than women to be comfortable.