European Parliament examines the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare

A recently published Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) study examines the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare. It explores applications, risks, and ethical and social impacts in the context of the EU member states.

This study offers an overview of how AI can benefit future healthcare, but at the same time it identifies and clarifies the main clinical, social and ethical risks posed by AI in healthcare. In the field of the pharmaceutical industry, the study shows inequities and inequalities among the EU member states and their populations. Therefore, in the different countries exist prohibitive user charges for pharmaceutical products. 

The study also talks about the opportunities offered by AI to improve health. The potential for the application of AI in the clinical setting is enormous and ranges from the automation of diagnostic processes to therapeutic decision making and clinical research. At this moment, personalised medicine or the new concept extended personalised medicine makes it possible to evaluate the clinical benefit of different research methods and multiple data types. Therefore, personalised medicine system will have far-reaching implications for patients, clinicians, and the pharmaceutical industry.

As with most health technologies, there is a risk for human error and human misuse with medical AI. At the same time, this study warns about the incorrect usage of AI tools, because it can result  in incorrect medical assessment and decision making. The report explains that many AI-powered online/mobile tools have also emerged in a wide range of medical domains and are commercially offered for medical diagnostics and health monitoring. However, their wide proliferation online can become a public health concern, in the same way that easily accessible online pharmacies have contributed to an abuse of medication by citizens.

Francesc Arcas Ruscalleda

Link:

Artificial intelligence in healthcare. Applications, risks, and ethical and societal impacts