Submitted by Marianna Shershneva on

Masters K. Ethical use of artificial intelligence in health professions education: AMEE Guide No. 158. Med Teach. 2023;45(6):574-584.

Abstract

Health Professions Education (HPE) has benefitted from the advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and is set to benefit more in the future. Just as any technological advance opens discussions about ethics, so the implications of AI for HPE ethics need to be identified, anticipated, and accommodated so that HPE can utilise AI without compromising crucial ethical principles. Rather than focussing on AI technology, this Guide focuses on the ethical issues likely to face HPE teachers and administrators as they encounter and use AI systems in their teaching environment. While many of the ethical principles may be familiar to readers in other contexts, they will be viewed in light of AI, and some unfamiliar issues will be introduced. They include data gathering, anonymity, privacy, consent, data ownership, security, bias, transparency, responsibility, autonomy, and beneficence. In the Guide, each topic explains the concept and its importance and gives some indication of how to cope with its complexities. Ideas are drawn from personal experience and the relevant literature. In most topics, further reading is suggested so that readers may further explore the concepts at their leisure. The aim is for HPE teachers and decision-makers at all levels to be alert to these issues and to take proactive action to be prepared to deal with the ethical problems and opportunities that AI usage presents to HPE.

Questions

  1. What was the most important insight or new understanding you gained from this article about the ethical use of AI in health professions education? How might it influence your future teaching or institutional practices?
  2. How important is it for educators to understand how AI algorithms work before integrating them into curriculum or assessment practices? What level of transparency is ethically necessary?
  3. The article suggests that AI may challenge or even reshape human ethical frameworks. What are the implications of this possibility for health professions education and how should educators prepare?