Artificial Intelligence Physician Avatars for Patient Education: A Pilot Study.

ABSTRACT: Background: Generative AI and synthetic media have enabled realistic human Embodied Conversational Agents (ECAs) or avatars. A subset of this technology replicates faces and voices to create realistic likenesses. When combined with avatars, these methods enable the creation of "digital twins" of physicians, offering patients scalable, 24/7 clinical communication outside the immediate clinical environment. This study evaluated surgical patient perceptions of an AI-generated surgeon avatar for postoperative education. Methods: We conducted a pilot feasibility study with 30 plastic surgery patients at Mayo Clinic, USA (July-August 2025). A bespoke interactive surgeon avatar was developed in Python using the HeyGen IV model to reproduce the surgeon's likeness. Patients interacted

SUBMITTER: Haider SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12692777 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature