Gina Shaw
Neurology Today
Originally posted 7 Nov 24
The rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine—in everything from diagnostics and precision medicine to drug discovery and development to administrative and communication tasks—poses major challenges for bioethics in general and neuroethics in particular.
A review in BMC Neuroscience published in August argues that the “increasing application of AI in neuroscientific research, the health care of neurological and mental diseases, and the use of neuroscientific knowledge as inspiration for AI” requires much closer collaboration between AI ethics and neuroethics disciplines than exists at present.
What might that look like at a higher level? And more immediately, how can neurologists and neuroethicists consider the ethical implications of the AI tools available to them right now?
The View From Above
At a conceptual level, bioethicists who focus on AI and neuroethicists have a lot to offer one another, said Benjamin Tolchin, MD, FAAN, associate professor of neurology at Yale School of Medicine and director of the Center for Clinical Ethics at Yale New Haven Health.
“For example, both fields struggle to define concepts such as consciousness and learning,” he said. “Work in each field can and should influence the other. These shared concepts in turn shape debates about governance of AI and of some neurotechnologies.”
“In most places, the AI work is largely being driven by machine learning technical people and programmers, while neuroethics is largely being taught by clinicians and philosophers,” noted Michael Rubin, MD, FAAN, associate professor of neurology and director of clinical ethics at UT-Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
Here are some thoughts:
This article explores the ethical implications of using artificial intelligence (AI) in neurology. It focuses on the use of AI tools like large language models (LLMs) in patient communication and clinical note-writing. The article discusses the potential benefits of AI in neurology, including improved efficiency and accuracy, but also raises concerns about bias, privacy, and the potential for AI to overshadow the importance of human interaction and clinical judgment. The article concludes by emphasizing the need for ongoing dialogue and collaboration between neurologists, neuroethicists, and AI experts to ensure the ethical and responsible use of these powerful tools.
