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As Boris Johnson tries to reposition the Tories as the party of the NHS, with a 34bn-a-year long-term funding bill, the health services future will be in the minds of many. Its workforce is under relentless strain as it seeks to deliver world-class healthcare to the population, and many staff are overwhelmed.

As the debate continues, one area where we have seen growing momentum is the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to help support staff and the broader system. If deployed correctly, AIs vast processing power and bespoke insights could enhance the provision of healthcare in countless ways, from clinical diagnosis, drug testing and research, through to nutritional advice and guidance.

Read more: NHS to be the centrepiece of Queens Speech

Healthcare by its very nature will continue to be human-led, but new technologies can free people up to concentrate on providing the right care to the patients that need it.

Encouragingly, one of Londons universities is at the forefront of this shift towards augmented intelligence. Kings College London recently announced that from 2020 onwards it will partner with two companies to deliver an AI model that develops research, clinical and operational improvements across many clinical areas, including cancer, heart failure, dementia and strokes.

And Kings is by no means alone. Earlier this year, researchers at Oxford University announced that they had developed an AI tool that can predict a patients risk of suffering a heart attack nearly a decade before it strikes. The tool has since been given government funding, with a view to it becoming available on the NHS in the next two years.

So, the use of AI in healthcare is far from science-fiction. In fact, AI already pervades in our daily lives both in healthcare and beyond. Your Netflix recommendations, your phones face ID security, and even your Google searches are all underpinned by AI in some form.

Yet the general population is still reluctant to embrace AI in healthcare.

Our research of UK consumers indicates that the jury is still out over its potential. Just 30 per cent think AI will help them live longer by providing access to improved healthcare, treatments and support. They are also sceptical about its use in supporting invasive surgery, with 62 per cent preferring a human to oversee and conduct their procedure rather than technology, even if the latter would guarantee a quicker recovery time.

Consumers are even nervous about the sharing of accurate personal data the essential ingredient enabling AI to produce useful insights. Currently, only half of consumers would be comfortable with their doctor let alone a machine having access to data about their daily lives (such as their drinking habits, rate of exercise, diet and so on) to give better medical advice.

This lack of trust can be put down to a perceived lack of transparency. Almost three quarters (72 per cent) of the general public do not feel that businesses or the government are clear enough on the tech they use and how they use them.

If people do not understand the details, how can they invest in the use of technology when it comes to something that could, quite literally, make the difference between life and death?

Read more: The second order impacts of artificial intelligence

As the main custodian for healthcare in the UK, the NHS must play its part in ensuring that patients trust these new innovations with their lives and embrace their integration into the service. This means that, along with the government and relevant companies, the health service must better inform patients on how these technologies are being used.

Without this transparency, trust and understanding, the potential of AI to help save lives will not be realised.

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If artificial intelligence is going to revolutionise the NHS, people need to be educated on its uses - City A.M.