Indian Clinicians Trust AI More Than Global Peers, But Adoption Still Lags, Reveals Report

Indian clinicians trust artificial intelligence (AI) more than their global counterparts, but its adoption in clinical practice remains below the global average, according to Elsevier’s Clinician of the Future 2026 report.

The report found that 42% of clinicians in India currently use AI for work compared to the global average of 49%. Despite the lower adoption, 43% of Indian clinicians said they trust AI tools, higher than the global average of 37%.

Based on responses from 2,757 clinicians, including 2,065 doctors and 692 nurses across 118 countries, the report also found that Indian healthcare professionals reported better workplace conditions and greater institutional preparedness for AI than their global peers.

Around 53% of Indian respondents said their institutions have good AI governance, compared to 40% globally. Similarly, 50% rated their access to digital tools positively, while 44% said they receive adequate AI training, both higher than the global averages of 41% and 32%, respectively.

Indian clinicians also reported lower workplace pressure. Nearly 79% said they have sufficient time to provide quality patient care, compared to 65% globally. Only 12% said they were considering leaving their jobs, significantly lower than the global average of 24%.

Elsevier also found that AI is becoming increasingly common in healthcare worldwide. Nearly half of clinicians now use AI at work, with 56% of AI users regularly relying on general-purpose tools such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot. Meanwhile, 34% frequently use clinical-specific AI tools for tasks such as clinical decision-making, second opinions and patient care support.

The report noted that clinicians expect AI to become more deeply integrated into healthcare over the next decade. Around 80% believe AI will become a critical assistant in clinical decision-making within the next five to 10 years, while 58% said clinicians using AI are likely to deliver better-quality care than those who do not.

Despite growing confidence in AI, Elsevier highlighted the need for greater transparency around how AI models are trained and how they generate outputs. The report said clinicians need to trust these systems as they increasingly rely on them to support life-critical medical decisions.

Among the countries surveyed, Japan recorded the highest trust in AI at 54%, followed by China (49%), while the United States (19%) and the United Kingdom (21%) reported the lowest levels of trust.