Pharmacist Trust in AI Varies by Age and Training

Older and more experienced pharmacists exhibited the greatest propensity to trust artificial intelligence (AI) and automated technology in practice, according to a study in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association (JAPhA).¹ With older pharmacists displaying a greater propensity than those that were younger, researchers agreed early exposure and training for emerging pharmacy professionals are necessary, along with more research into pharmacists’ trust in AI.

“Automated technology is an integral part of health care and pharmacy practice,” wrote the authors of the study. “Pharmacists process prescriptions electronically, use barcode scanning to confirm the correct medication has been selected from their shelves, and use clinical decision support to identify drug-drug interactions.”

As AI and automation integrate into the daily workflows of modern pharmacies, a new study reveals that trust in these sophisticated tools is not uniform across the profession. The JAPhA research indicates that although pharmacists generally hold a positive propensity to trust automated technologies, it is the more seasoned veterans of the field who are leading the way.¹

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Pharmacists’ Propensity to Trust AI

This demographic analysis of 99 licensed pharmacists found that age and work experience were significant predictors of trust, with those having more than 21 years of experience reporting higher trust scores than their younger counterparts. This finding suggests that long-term exposure to the evolution of pharmacy technology, from early barcode scanning to modern clinical-decision support, may foster a more stable willingness to adopt newer AI-driven tools.

Although the general disposition toward automation is favorable, the mechanisms that build or break this trust are complex and deeply tied to system transparency. According to a separate exploratory study on automated pill recognition, pharmacist trust is significantly enhanced when AI systems provide uncertainty information, such as visual histograms that reveal the distribution of probabilities behind a recommendation, according to JMIR Human Factors.²

Without this transparency, AI often remains a “black box” that can undermine professional confidence.

Interestingly, researchers observed a pronounced negativity bias in these interactions. A single AI error, such as approving an incorrectly filled medication, causes a much sharper decline in trust than the gain achieved through multiple correct decisions.² This highlights the critical need for pharmacists to optimize, rather than maximize, their trust to avoid over-reliance while remaining vigilant for AI-generated errors.¹

The Informatics Pharmacist

The evolution of this trust is also being shaped by the rise of the informatics pharmacist, a role that has shifted from manually reviewing hard-copy journals in the 1990s to managing massive data integrity in the digital era. These specialists now serve as essential guardians against drug disinformation and inaccurate AI outputs, ensuring that the human-AI-team approach actually improves patient safety.^1,3

As informatics pharmacists work behind the scenes to maintain the integrity of clinical databases, frontline pharmacists face the challenge of translating their own trust in technology into meaningful patient relationships.^3,4

The psychological construction of trust between a pharmacist and a patient is a delicate balance of clinical precision and human empathy.^4,5 Although pharmacists may trust their internal automated systems, patients often view the community pharmacy through a business context that can diminish their initial trust.⁵

Patients frequently equate the retail pharmacy environment with other stores, adopting a “buyer beware” attitude toward staff. To overcome this, according to Aspen RxHealth, pharmacists must intentionally transfer their clinical expertise into a digital-first world using pillars of trust such as transparency, cultural competency, and proactive communication.⁴

AI’s Increasingly Prominent Role in the Pharmacy

Technology should enhance the human element of care rather than replace it. Whether through a virtual consultation or a face-to-face interaction, trust is earned one patient at a time through consistent behaviors like active listening and demonstrating respect for privacy.^4,5

By combining the efficiency of automated verification tools with the empathy and nuance only a human professional can provide, pharmacists can strengthen their roles as clinical partners in an increasingly automated health care landscape.^1,4 For younger pharmacists, early exposure to AI during their education may be the key to calibrating this trust effectively, preparing them to lead a future where technology and human expertise work in tandem to optimize health outcomes.¹

“We saw higher levels of trust in older pharmacists and considered how younger pharmacists might enhance their trust through earlier exposure and training,” concluded the authors of the JAPhA study. “Conducting further research into pharmacists’ propensity to trust AI would be worthwhile.”

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REFERENCES

1. Whitaker M, Rowell B, Kim JY, et al. Pharmacists’ propensity to trust automated technologies: a demographic analysis. JAPhA. 2025;66(2):103011. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japh.2025.103011

2. Kim JY, Marshall VD, Rowell B, et al. The effects of presenting AI uncertainty information on pharmacists’ trust in automated pill recognition technology: exploratory mixed subjects study. JMIR Hum Factors. 2025;12:e60273. https://doi.org/10.2196/60273

3. Sommer CD. Informatics pharmacists are forging trust through times of rapid technological change. FDB. August 15, 2024. Accessed March 12, 2026. https://www.fdbhealth.com/insights/articles/2024-08-15-informatics-pharmacists-are-forging-trust-through-times-of-rapid-technological-change

4. In a digital-first world, how can pharmacists build trust? 9 pillars to a strong patient-provider relationship. Aspen RxHealth. February 26, 2026. Accessed March 12, 2026. https://resources.aspenrxhealth.com/blog/how-can-pharmacists-build-trust-pillars-to-a-strong-patient-provider-relationship

5. Gregory PAM, Austin Z. Understanding the psychology of trust between patients and their community pharmacists. Can Pharm J (Ott). 2021 Feb 16;154(2):120-128. doi: 10.1177/1715163521989760.