Artificial Intelligence Usage and Creativity Among Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: AI is being used more in medical schools and may change how students think up new ways of thinking about things, create new ways of thinking about things, and put those new ways of thinking about things to use. Therefore, knowing if AI use affects creativity will be important, particularly because there is such a great focus now on having students be innovative and solve problems in medical education.
Objective: The objective of this study was to determine how medical students utilize AI, as well as to evaluate the innovative ways in which they complete their academic assignments, and finally, to explore the correlation between using AI and completing innovative work.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that included 205 medical students from Mutah University. Data was collected through a self-administered that consists of the modified version of Runco Ideation Behavior Scale (RIBS) to assess the creativity and a developed scale that assess the AI usage. Responses to both scales were recorded on five Likert scales. P value < 0.05 considered statically significant.
Results: AI use and creativity scores showed broadly comparable patterns across the different demographic and academic groups. AI usage did not vary significantly by gender, academic year, cumulative GPA, previous training in creativity or design thinking, or access to internet-enabled devices (all p > 0.05). Likewise, creativity scores were not significantly associated with gender, academic year, cumulative GPA, or access to internet-enabled devices. In contrast, students who had previously received training in creativity or design thinking had higher mean creativity scores than those without such training (3.91 ± 0.60 vs. 3.64 ± 0.71, p = 0.021).
Conclusion: AI use and creativity levels were generally comparable across demographic and academic groups of medical students. Prior training in creativity or design thinking was associated with higher creativity scores, suggesting that structured educational experiences may play a significant role in fostering creative behavior.