The Gaps at the Intersection of Healthcare, Machine Learning and ...
The exploration of the technical possibilities of Machine Learning (ML) applied to tasks and problems in medical diagnosis provides a significant basis for evaluating risks and benefits. This evaluation is crucial in the healthcare industry as it involves human lives. In subsequent chapters, a methodological approach based on two main elements - a normative account of moral rights and a relational theory - is used. The specific characteristics of this approach are thoroughly discussed in detail in Chapter 3.
It is important to note that the role of the patient in healthcare settings undergoes a significant transformation when viewed as a consumer or user. This transformative shift impacts the dynamic of rights and duties in healthcare. This normative matter is a critical aspect that will be further explored and elaborated on in Chapter 5.
The topic of accountability in the context of healthcare and Machine Learning is complex and often associated with conceptual inconsistencies. Differentiating between two forms of accountability - as a mechanism and as a virtue - is essential. Accountability as a mechanism refers to the social obligation of an agent to justify their actions, while accountability as a virtue is a normative concept to evaluate the behavior of public actors.
Furthermore, it is argued that not only public actors but any individual with sufficient power or authority to make decisions of normative significance within an organization should be held accountable. This broadening of accountability highlights the need for transparency and responsibility in decision-making processes within the healthcare sector.
References:
- Jonathan H. Chen and Steven M. Asch, “Machine Learning and Prediction in Medicine — Beyond the Peak of Inflated Expectations,” The New England Journal of Medicine 376, no. 26 (June 29, 2017): 2507–9
- Ibo van de Poel, “The Problem of Many Hands,” in Moral Responsibility and the Problem of Many Hands, by Van De Poel, Lamber Royakkers, and Sjoerd D. Zwart, 1st ed., Routledge Studies in Ethics and Moral Theory (New York: Routledge, 2015)
- Bas de Boer and Olya Kudina, “What Is Morally at Stake When Using Algorithms to Make Medical Diagnoses? Expanding the Discussion beyond Risks and Harms,” Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 42, no. 5 (December 1, 2021)
