The Debate on the Ethics of AI in Health Care: A Reconstruction and Critical Review

35 Pages Posted: 26 Nov 2019 Last revised: 8 Apr 2020

See all articles by Jessica Morley

Jessica Morley

University of Oxford - Bennett Institute of Applied Data Science

Caio Machado

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Christopher Burr

The Alan Turing Institute; University of Oxford - Oxford Internet Institute

Josh Cowls

University of Oxford - Oxford Internet Institute

Mariarosaria Taddeo

University of Oxford - Oxford Internet Institute

Luciano Floridi

Yale University - Digital Ethics Center; University of Bologna- Department of Legal Studies

Date Written: November 13, 2019

Abstract

Healthcare systems across the globe are struggling with increasing costs and worsening outcomes. This presents those responsible for overseeing healthcare with a challenge. Increasingly, policymakers, politicians, clinical entrepreneurs and computer and data scientists argue that a key part of the solution will be ‘Artificial Intelligence’ (AI) – particularly Machine Learning (ML). This argument stems not from the belief that all healthcare needs will soon be taken care of by “robot doctors.” Instead, it is an argument that rests on the classic counterfactual definition of AI as an umbrella term for a range of techniques that can be used to make machines complete tasks in a way that would be considered intelligent were they to be completed by a human. Automation of this nature could offer great opportunities for the improvement of healthcare services and ultimately patients’ health by significantly improving human clinical capabilities in diagnosis, drug discovery, epidemiology, personalised medicine, and operational efficiency. However, if these AI solutions are to be embedded in clinical practice, then at least three issues need to be considered: the technical possibilities and limitations; the ethical, regulatory and legal framework; and the governance framework. In this article, we report on the results of a systematic analysis designed to provide a clear overview of the second of these elements: the ethical, regulatory and legal framework. We find that ethical issues arise at six levels of abstraction (individual, interpersonal, group, institutional, sectoral, and societal) and can be categorised as epistemic, normative, or overarching. We conclude by stressing how important it is that the ethical challenges raised by implementing AI in healthcare settings are tackled proactively rather than reactively and map the key considerations for policymakers to each of the ethical concerns highlighted.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Ethics; Healthcare; Health Policies; Machine Learning

Suggested Citation

Morley, Jessica and Machado, Caio and Burr, Christopher and Burr, Christopher and Cowls, Josh and Taddeo, Mariarosaria and Floridi, Luciano, The Debate on the Ethics of AI in Health Care: A Reconstruction and Critical Review (November 13, 2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3486518 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3486518

Jessica Morley (Contact Author)

University of Oxford - Bennett Institute of Applied Data Science ( email )

Caio Machado

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Christopher Burr

The Alan Turing Institute ( email )

British Library
96 Euston Road
London, NW1 2DB
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://https://chrisdburr.com

University of Oxford - Oxford Internet Institute ( email )

1 St. Giles
University of Oxford
Oxford OX1 3PG Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire OX1 3JS
United Kingdom

Josh Cowls

University of Oxford - Oxford Internet Institute ( email )

1 St. Giles
University of Oxford
Oxford OX1 3PG Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire OX1 3JS
United Kingdom

Mariarosaria Taddeo

University of Oxford - Oxford Internet Institute ( email )

1 St. Giles
University of Oxford
Oxford OX1 3PG Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire OX1 3JS
United Kingdom

Luciano Floridi

Yale University - Digital Ethics Center ( email )

85 Trumbull Street
New Haven, CT CT 06511
United States
2034326473 (Phone)

University of Bologna- Department of Legal Studies ( email )

Via Zamboni 22
Bologna, Bo 40100
Italy

HOME PAGE: http://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/luciano.floridi/en

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