From Theory to Practice: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Literacy Course for First-Year Medical Students

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming healthcare by enhancing diagnostics, personalized medicine, and clinical decision-making. In medical education, AI chatbots have the potential to be used as virtual tutors or learning assistants. Despite AI's growing impact, its integration into medical education remains limited. AI is not a standard component of medical curricula, which could leave many future healthcare professionals unprepared for an AI-driven workplace. To address this significant gap, this editorial describes the development of a mini-course to integrate AI training for first-year medical students. The course was focused on the fundamentals of AI, prompt engineering, practical applications of chatbots as learning assistants, and ethical use of generative AI.