Between Algorithms and Traditions: How Young Cancer Survivors Use Generative AI to Make Sense of Integrative Care

There is an increasing use of generative AI (GenAI hereafter) as a critical part of (digital) health futures for diagnoses, treatment and recovery. Emerging work has started to ask patients about the use of GenAI in screening and testing) and experiences with AI for mental health, yet little is known about how it gets used for decision-making in-patient recovery and treatment processes. For cancer survivors, decision making rarely draws on a single source of knowledge. Patients routinely navigate biomedical advice, peer networks, online information, and, for many culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, traditional practices such as Chinese medicine. These forms of knowledge are not always consistently represented or contextualised in AI generated outputs, raising important questions about how individuals interpret, trust, and act on such information.

Drawing on work on technologies and care, patient experience, and queer technologies, the research examines how young cancer survivors engage with GenAI as part of their broader health information ecosystem. In doing so, the project explores the role of GenAI in shaping treatment decisions, recovery pathways, and everyday experiences of living with cancer.