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Objectives Implementing ethics is crucial to prevent harm and promote widespread benefits in social experiments based on medical artificial intelligence (MAI). However, insufficient information is available concerning this within the paediatric healthcare sector. We aimed to conduct a comparative survey among paediatricians, nurses and health information technicians regarding ethics implementation knowledge of and attitude towards MAI social experiments at children’s hospitals in Shanghai.Design and setting A cross-sectional electronic questionnaire was administered from 1 July 2022 to 31 July 2022, at tertiary children’s hospitals in Shanghai.Participants All the eligible individuals were recruited. The inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) should be a paediatrician, nurse and health information technician, (2) should have been engaged in or currently participating in social experiments based on MAI, and (3) voluntary participation in the survey.Primary outcome Ethics implementation knowledge of and attitude to MAI social experiments among paediatricians, nurses and health information technicians.Results There were 137 paediatricians, 135 nurses and 60 health information technicians who responded to the questionnaire at tertiary children’s hospitals. 2.4–9.6% of participants were familiar with ethics implementation knowledge of MAI social experiments. 31.9–86.1% of participants held an ‘agree’ ethics implementation attitude. Health information technicians accounted for the highest proportion of the participants who were familiar with the knowledge of implementing ethics, and paediatricians or nurses accounted for the highest proportion among those who held ‘agree’ attitudes.Conclusions There is a significant knowledge gap and variations in attitudes among paediatricians, nurses and health information technicians, which underscore the urgent need for individualised education and training programmes to enhance MAI ethics implementation in paediatric healthcare.