Artificial intelligence and health: one in three Italians use it, but women are more cautious
The most balanced female view still sees the human relationship with the doctor as irreplaceable: the data presented during the Farmindustria event on 'Women's Health'
Key points
More and more Italians - more than one in three - are questioning artificial intelligence to find out how they are or to perhaps understand what certain symptoms mean or how to treat an illness. In fact, at least 35% resort to AI when they have a doubt about their own health or that of their loved ones, but with a very significant gender characteristic, namely that it is mainly women who interpret artificial intelligence with a responsible, prudent approach and with a more balanced vision that still sees the human relationship with the doctor as irreplaceable. This is what emerges from the Censis survey "Italians, AI and health: perceptions, behaviour and gender differences", presented during the event "Salute al femminile: la conoscenza che cura. Health Literacy and artificial intelligence for equal opportunities' promoted by Farmindustria under the patronage of the Minister for Family, Natality and Equal Opportunities.
Women's use of AI in health and self-regulation
According to Censis data, 63% of Italians have already used AI tools and almost 1 in 4 use them regularly. Use is also widespread in the health sector: 35% say they use AI for health-related aspects. But the research highlights in particular the central role of women in spreading a culture of responsible self-regulation in the face of new technologies: 92.3% believe that information obtained through digital tools should always be checked with the doctor, as the primary source of health information, as do 88% of men. In addition, 65.3% of women and 58% of men say they do not feel comfortable getting information only through AI, due to the fear of fake news and greater trust in information produced by people. A balanced approach therefore prevails: not technophobic, but not fideistic either. And even in the AI era, the primacy of the human factor and the relationship of trust with the doctor remains strong.
The impact on pharmaceutical research
"Artificial intelligence represents a great opportunity to improve prevention, diagnosis, research and management of health and care pathways, but the human relationship remains fundamental. And women are the protagonists of this balance between innovation, responsibility and care: in R&D, where the number of molecules identified by AI has grown by 300% since 2023 and the time in the pre-clinical phase has been reduced by 40% also thanks to AI, the female presence reaches 52%," warns Marcello Cattani, President of Farmindustria. "Technological development is fundamental: we all already use artificial intelligence and it is valuable, we all use social and new technologies. We must try to accompany these phenomena and govern them to protect our youngest children who are always the most vulnerable. It is not possible to just prohibit: we must try to give families, above all, instruments of control and accompaniment,' added the Minister for Family, Natality and Equal Opportunities, Eugenia Roccella, speaking at the event promoted by Farmindustria 'Salute al femminile'.
The important presence of women in Pharma
A meeting that was also an opportunity to recall how the pharmaceutical industry is 'one of the most advanced sectors in Italia on the front of the enhancement of female talent, equality and welfare,' Cattani points out. In pharmaceutical companies, women represent 45% of the workforce, compared to 29% of the manufacturing average, with a very high presence even in top positions: executives and managers are women in 48% of cases. The figure for young women is particularly significant: 56% of women under 35 employed in the sector are executives or managers, compared to 38% of the industrial average. Over the past five years, female employment has grown by 15%, while that of the under-35s by 25%. And in the age bracket between 30 and 50, 'the gender pay gap is zero', emphasises the president of Farmindustria. Today, as far as research into new drugs is concerned, around 92 per cent of clinical trials are open to both sexes, while the remaining 8 per cent is divided more or less in half to test new drugs related to typically gender-specific pathologies.
