"Great power but no responsibility": AI responsibility in medical contexts

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology has been called “the new electricity” – like the invention of electricity which revolutionised every industry and every area of our lives, experts predict that AI technology will have a similarly transformational impact on every aspect of modern society. The AI revolution has already begun in healthcare. From AI systems that use computer vision to identify cancers, to apps that predict when patients are at risk of acute kidney injury, the delivery of medical care is being transformed by the latest AI technology. This technology offers tremendous potential for improving patient outcomes and the standard of healthcare, but when things go wrong AI technology also has the potential to cause grave harm. Whilst AI technological developments are racing ahead, many of the legal and ethical implications of AI remain unanswered.
The central question for the use of AI technology in healthcare is: whose fault is it when patients are harmed? This thesis will take an interdisciplinary approach to unite discussions of the legal and ethical questions regarding how AI technology should be used, with the capabilities of AI systems that are being developed in computer science research.

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  Hui Xian Chia

  PhD Candidate

  Melbourne Law School

  University of Melbourne