Nursing students metaphorical perceptions of the concept of “Artificial intelligence” and their views on the future of artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is significantly transforming the nursing profession, supporting decision-making mechanisms, and playing a crucial role in shaping future patient care practices. Understanding nursing students’ perspectives on AI applications is vital for the effective integration of artificial intelligence into clinical practice and education. This qualitative descriptive study explored nursing students’ metaphorical perceptions of artificial intelligence and their expectations for its future role in healthcare. Twenty nursing students from a university in Central Anatolia, Turkey, were purposively sampled using criterion sampling. Data were collected between November and December 2024. The interviews were conducted face-to-face by the researchers. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews and analysed through inductive content analysis with MaXQDA. The data were categorized into three main themes and twelve sub-themes: the future of artificial intelligence in healthcare, the contribution of artificial intelligence to public health, and the perceived risks and ethical challenges of artificial intelligence: (1) Future Use of AI in Healthcare, (2) The Contributions of AI to Public Health (3) Negative Reflections of AI in the Field of Health in the Future. Overall, students recognized AI’s potential to improve healthcare quality and efficiency but expressed caution regarding its ethical and professional impacts. The findings emphasize the need to integrate balanced, critical AI content into nursing education to prepare nurses for technology-driven healthcare. The increasing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into healthcare requires future nurses to understand its implications. Exploring nursing students’ perceptions of AI is essential to identify educational needs and professional concerns. This study addresses a gap in the literature by examining how nursing students conceptualize AI and foresee its role in clinical and public health settings. The findings can guide curriculum development and support ethical, informed adoption of AI in nursing practice. The increasing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into healthcare requires future nurses to understand its implications. Exploring nursing students’ perceptions of AI is essential to identify educational needs and professional concerns. This study addresses a gap in the literature by examining how nursing students conceptualize AI and foresee its role in clinical and public health settings. The findings can guide curriculum development and support ethical, informed adoption of AI in nursing practice.