Artificial intelligence knowledge, perceptions, and educational needs among undergraduate medical students in Oujda, Morocco: a cross-sectional study

Introduction: artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly relevant to clinical practice, but medical students may not receive structured preparation for its safe and ethical use. This study assessed self-reported AI knowledge, perceptions, and educational needs among undergraduate medical students at the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of Oujda, Morocco. Methods: a descriptive cross-sectional online survey was conducted from February to June 2025. All eligible undergraduate medical students enrolled during the 2024-2025 academic year were invited through official student WhatsApp groups. The questionnaire collected demographic, academic, digital competence, AI familiarity, perceived usefulness, perceived advantages and disadvantages, and AI education preference data. Results were summarized descriptively, unadjusted bivariate comparisons used Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results: a total of 1,242 undergraduate medical students completed the questionnaire. Most respondents perceived AI as useful in medicine (1,130; 91.0%), but only 218 (17.5%) felt well informed about AI in medicine. Students most often recognized AI benefits for clinical data analysis, drug research and development, error reduction, and continuous availability. Major concerns were loss of empathy, unclear liability, limited flexibility for individual patients, and bias. Interest in AI education was high, with 1,083 (87.2%) wishing to learn more. Conclusion: in this single-center survey, Oujda medical students perceived AI as important but reported limited AI-specific preparedness. These findings support locally grounded, ethics-oriented AI education.