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The Ethics of Medical AI and the Physician-Patient Relationship

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 December 2019

SALLY DALTON-BROWN
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Abstract:

This article considers recent ethical topics relating to medical AI. After a general discussion of recent medical AI innovations, and a more analytic look at related ethical issues such as data privacy, physician dependency on poorly understood AI helpware, bias in data used to create algorithms post-GDPR, and changes to the patient–physician relationship, the article examines the issue of so-called robot doctors. Whereas the so-called democratization of healthcare due to health wearables and increased access to medical information might suggest a positive shift in the patient-physician relationship, the physician’s ‘need to care’ might be irreplaceable, and robot healthcare workers (‘robot carers’) might be seen as contributing to dehumanized healthcare practices.

Keywords

Medical AIGDPRalgorithm biascare robots
Type
Special Section: Open Forum
Information
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics , Volume 29 , Issue 1 , January 2020 , pp. 115 - 121
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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References

Notes

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