Artificial intelligence and multidisciplinary team meetings; a communication challenge for radiologists' sense of agency and position as spider in a web?

PURPOSE: This paper focuses on how the implementation of artificial intelligence algorithms (AI) challenges and changes the existing communication practice in radiology seen from a psychological communicative and clinical radiologist's perspective. METHOD: Based on thematic literature search across radiology, management, and information system technology research of AI implementation and robotics, we applied social- and cognitive psychological concepts in order to analyse and interpret these potential communication challenges that the introduction of AI potentially imposes. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: We found that scepticism towards AI implementation is a well-documented reaction among medical professionals in general. We related this scepticism to the AI's potential transforming effect on the practice of communication in radiology. We found that the traditional communication practice to include and collaborate with AI is insufficiently developed. We propose using the multidisciplinary team meetings as an example of that at least two psychological mechanisms in this insufficiently developed communication practice can be both crucial barriers towards and drivers of the AI implementation, these mechanisms are: (1) (loss of) sense of agency, meaning the experience of being in control in one's job, and (2) (a threatened) self-image of being the expert when interacting with AI. CONCLUSION: AI implementation potentially transforms the existing professional and social positions of radiologists and other medical professionals in general which in multidisciplinary team meetings can hinder the intended use and benefit of the technology. We therefore recommend an increased focus on psychological and leadership processes in order to avoid these consequences and call for a development of co-creating communication practices with AI.