Ethical evaluation of artificial intelligence applications in radiotherapy using the Four Topics Approach

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence is the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behavior. An important impact can be expected from Artificial Intelligence throughout the workflow of radiotherapy (such as automated organ segmentation, treatment planning, prediction of outcome and quality assurance). However, ethical concerns regarding the binding agreement between the patient and the physician have followed the introduction of artificial intelligence. Through the recording of personal and social moral values in addition to the usual demographics and the implementation of these as distinctive inputs to matching algorithms, ethical concerns such as consistency, applicability and relevance can be solved. In the meantime, physicians’ awareness of the ethical dimension in their decision-making should be challenged, so that they prioritize treating their patients and not diseases, remain vigilant to preserve patient safety, avoid unintended harm and establish institutional policies on these issues.