Professor Stacy Carter1, Dr Yves Saint James Aquino1, Dr Mark Howard2, Associate Professor Bernadette Richards3, Professor Jackie Leach Scully4
1Australian Centre For Health Engagement, Evidence and Values (ACHEEV), University of Wollongong, 2Department of Philosophy, Monash University, 3Academy for Medical Education, University of Queensland, 4UNSW Disability Innovation Institute
Forms of Artificial Intelligence (AI) are rapidly transforming society, including in healthcare. AI, we are told, will improve risk prediction, diagnosis, and clinical decision-making, and replace or augment human health workers in key ‘thinking’ tasks, such as interpretation of images, pattern recognition, resource allocation, service planning and language processing. In this panel, we address two questions: Why should bioethicists care about AI in healthcare? and What might bioethicists contribute to an analysis of AI in healthcare? To frame the conversation, we will discuss what ‘AI’ is, its use in health domains, and the range of normative approaches to AI. We then introduce four key perspectives from 1) philosophy, 2) empirical ethics, 3) health law and 4) disability bioethics. The philosophical perspective will engage with conceptual issues raised by assistive AI, such as interpretability and justification of clinical decisions, and allocation of moral responsibility for patient outcomes. The empirical ethics perspective will discuss empirical research methodologies that could advance conversations about the ELSI of healthcare AI. The health law perspective will consider the challenges of regulating such a diverse, complex and unknown (potentially unknowable) field, suggesting that perhaps established forms of regulation are not fit for purpose. Finally, the disability bioethics perspective will consider the distinctive ethical issues raised by AI technology’s engagement with disability. In conclusion, we will consider the role of bioethicists in advancing normative evaluation of AI. Prof Carter, Dr Aquino and A/Prof Richards are funded by NHMRC 1181960.
Biography:
Bio to come