The association of artificial intelligence ethical awareness, attitudes, anxiety, and intention-to-use artificial intelligence technology among nursing students

Background As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to permeate various sectors including healthcare, understanding its impact on nursing students' attitudes and intentions to use is crucial. To examine the association of AI ethical awareness, attitudes, anxiety, and intention-to-use AI technology among Jordanian nursing students. Method A descriptive, cross-sectional design was used. The study was conducted in three private universities in Jordan, utilizing a convenience sampling technique; data were collected from a sample of 140 nursing students between January and March 2024. Results Results showed moderate levels of AI ethical awareness, attitudes toward AI technology, anxiety to use AI, and intention-to-use AI technology among Jordanian nursing students. There are no significant differences found in the levels of AI ethical awareness, attitudes toward AI technology, anxiety to use AI, and intention-to-use AI based on gender and study year (p < 0.01). Intention-to-use AI had a significant positive relationship with AI ethical awareness (r = 0.521, p < 0.001), students' attitudes toward AI (0.558, p < 0.001), and anxiety to use AI (r = 0.407, p < 0.001). Conclusion The need to keep pace with technological developments is urgent and crucial, especially in nursing educational institutions. The findings shed important light on the levels of behavioral intention toward AI, as well as on variables such as ethical awareness, attitudes, and anxiety about AI, and the effect of demographics on participants' attitudes, anxiety, and intentions to use AI technology.