Artificial Intelligence in Medicine

Abstract

The article's theme centers on the ethical and legal challenges inherent in the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Medicine. Avidya, a fundamental concept in Buddhism, symbolizes the nature of reality as a blind man navigating with a cane, embodying a lack of profound understanding of reality. This analogy is used to illustrate our endeavor to transcend mere groping in the dark, aiming for a deeper comprehension that transforms blindness into a catalyst for enhancing other senses. In this context, AI brings us closer to the emerging paradigm of “4P medicine,” characterized as preventive, personalized, predictive, and proactive. In the healthcare sector, AI's potential extends to assisting with diagnosis, prognosis, formulating public policies, and devising targeted treatments based on genetic data. The central research question explores how to develop ethical and legal solutions for AI's application in Medicine, with a forward-looking perspective that encompasses the diverse abstract and individual normative directives of the respective knowledge domains. This article delves into the ethical challenges posed by AI in healthcare, which become apparent only when an interdisciplinary perspective is adopted. This approach facilitates the integration of concepts and regulations, focusing on the 'how-to' aspect and transcending the limitations (avidya) of a solely legal analysis. The first section addresses AI and legislative initiatives. The second section discusses new technologies, with a specific focus on AI in healthcare. The third section unveils challenges that emerge from broadening our understanding of AI through an interdisciplinary lens. Given the topic's complexity, particularly its sensitive application in healthcare, the article identifies ethical and economic hurdles in implementing this novel technology in medicine. The research methodology is theoretical, descriptive, and exploratory, utilizing technical bibliographic procedures, including a systematic literature review on the “Web Of Science” platform and an analysis of legislative texts.