Healthcare Through Ethical AI

As AI continues to reshape healthcare, we must ensure that it doesn’t come at the cost of ethics or human well-being. While AI offers tremendous potential for improving efficiency, accuracy, and care, it also brings challenges and possibilities particularly regarding ethical behavior both from doctors and patients.

Sometimes, healthcare professionals may exhibit inappropriate behavior due to occupational burnout, stress, or even long-standing biases.

With AI, we can introduce monitoring systems that flag questionable behavior in real time, providing feedback or raising concerns if necessary. These systems can help address issues like misconduct or ethical breaches, ensuring patients receive appropriate care

AI can also help identify inappropriate behavior from patients, particularly in sensitive cases involving mental health or substance abuse.

In these scenarios, AI can assist in recognizing patterns of behavior that require intervention or support, helping professionals manage difficult cases more effectively. Training healthcare professionals to critically evaluate AI recommendations will be key in ensuring that human judgment remains central to decision-making.

Sometimes AI introduces a challenge of cognitive bias. When AI suggests certain diagnoses based on data patterns, there is a risk that doctors may unconsciously over-rely on these suggestions, leading to overdiagnosis or misdiagnosis.

This cognitive bias, where doctors start to see what the AI suggests rather than evaluating the full clinical picture independently, must be managed carefully. There is a risk that doctors may develop cognitive bias by over-relying on AI-suggested diagnoses, leading to over-diagnosis or misdiagnosis.

AI can unintentionally steer clinicians toward certain conclusions, even if those suggestions are inaccurate. To prevent this, we need ongoing bias audits, transparent algorithms, and proper training to ensure that AI supports, but does not overshadow human clinical judgment. Patients must be made aware of how AI is used in their care, including how their data is collected, analyzed, and applied. Transparent communication is essential for ensuring trust.

For example, in private healthcare, patients could be given the option to choose doctors who prefer to work with AI enhancements, similar to how a person may select between male or female gynecologists. This approach gives patients the power to opt-in to AI-assisted care based on their preferences.

Who is responsible when AI makes an incorrect diagnosis or recommendation? We need clear guidelines for accountability to ensure that the technology enhances care without shirking responsibility for patient outcomes. While AI can offer excellent decision support, the final decisions should remain in the hands of human healthcare providers. AI should act as an aid, not as a replacement for critical human judgment.

As we continue to integrate AI into healthcare, we must constantly reflect on these ethical concerns to ensure that our healthcare system remains human centered and grounded in compassion.

Warmly,

Riikka