Background: The emergence of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) has a significant potential effect on medical education though there is little evidence regarding its use, perceptions, and expectations of medical students in resource‑limited clinical training contexts.
Objectives: We aim to explore the experiences and perceptions of medical students regarding the use of GenAI technologies in clinical education with a special focus on the AI trust relationship between advanced age and academic level.
Methods: A cross‑sectional observational study was conducted over eight months at Al‑Kindy College of Medicine, University of Baghdad, Iraq. All clinical‑grade students who responded to a 24‑item survey were involved (n=423). Multiple linear regression models and descriptive data analysis were performed.
Results: Almost all oura sample students reported a current AI use and most of them showed a prior use (n=405,95.7%). Exam preparation (n=316,74.7%) and clinical case generation (n=249,58.9%) were the main use purposes. They exhibited strong agreement regarding AI’s ability of better learning potential and essential need for regulatory policies, while marked neutrality appeared toward AI’s clinical diagnostic accuracy and long‑term practical effects. Significant skepticism (p<0.001) resulted as AI trust positively correlated with higher clinical experience and negatively related to chronological age.
Conclusions: Academic AI adoption was very largely encountered by medical students of resource‑limited settings and professional caution was shown regarding broader clinical applications with demands of AI compliance standards. The higher educational grade the better AI trust, while this was inversed regarding student’s age displaying a distinct skepticism.
