The Effect of Ambient Artificial Intelligence Scribes on Trainee Documentation Burden

Background: Ambient artificial intelligence scribes have become widespread commercial products in the era of generative artificial intelligence. While studies have examined the effect of these tools on the experience of attending physicians, little evidence is available regarding their use by resident physician trainees. Objectives: To assess trainee experience with an ambient artificial intelligence scribe using measures of usability, acceptability, and documentation burden. Methods: This prospective observational study enrolled 47 trainees in a 2-month pilot. Pre/post surveys were conducted with the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX, raw unweighted form, pre/post, for cognitive load during the documentation), the System Usability Scale (post, general usability), the Net Promoter Score (post, acceptability), and the AMIA TrendBurden Survey (pre/post, documentation burden). EHR utilization metrics were obtained from Epic Signal for both the pilot period and a 6-month baseline. Results: In total, 43/47 (91.5%) of participants adopted the intervention in practice. NASA-TLX scores improved from 56.3 to 43.3 (p<.001) and multiple items on the TrendBurden survey improved with high measures of acceptability. No significant difference in time spent in notes activity per note written was observed, with a median increase of 0.4 minutes (p=.568). Conclusion: Trainee use of an ambient artificial intelligence scribe was associated with improvements in documentation burden. Additional research on the effect of this technology on trainee learning and expertise development is needed.

Publication History

Received: 21 March 2025

Accepted after revision: 01 July 2025

Accepted Manuscript online:
02 July 2025