Mr Zachary Daus1
1Monash University, Australia
Biography:
Zachary Daus is a doctoral researcher at Monash University.
Abstract:
Implementing artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare could result in certain health goals taking undo precedence over other important health goals as well as over other values external to health, such as privacy, equality, autonomy and patient well-being. I argue that this phenomenon can be explained by turning to the concept of instrumental rationality as understood by Max Weber and those he later influenced. Weber identifies a variety of rationalities in the modern era, two of which are particularly relevant for medical AI: instrumental and value rationality. Instrumentally rational action is action that is used as a means to achieve one’s own rationally pursued and calculated ends. Value-rational action is action that is pursued for its own sake due to ethical, religious or other attitudes. Weber and those influenced by him claim that modern technologies, due to their specialized focus and calculable predictability, have led to the dominance of instrumental rationality in modernity. I claim this logic is also evident in the implementation of medical AI. By being relevant to a narrow range of health goals and by measuring the likelihood of realizing these goals through clear quantified metrics, medical AI systems encourage clinicians to pursue goals that are aligned with instrumental rationality and discourage them from considering a broader spectrum of more complex goals that constitute value rationality. I consider the negative implications this may have for healthcare ethics generally and healthcare justice specifically.