The ethics of advancing artificial intelligence in healthcare: analyzing ethical considerations for Japan’s innovative AI hospital system

Public and private investments into developing digital health technologies—including artificial intelligence (AI)—are intensifying globally. Japan is a key case study given major governmental investments, in part through a Cross-Ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) for an “Innova...

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Main Author: Amelia Katirai
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-07-01
Series:Frontiers in Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1142062/full
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author Amelia Katirai
author_facet Amelia Katirai
author_sort Amelia Katirai
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description Public and private investments into developing digital health technologies—including artificial intelligence (AI)—are intensifying globally. Japan is a key case study given major governmental investments, in part through a Cross-Ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) for an “Innovative AI Hospital System.” Yet, there has been little critical examination of the SIP Research Plan, particularly from an ethics approach. This paper reports on an analysis of the Plan to identify the extent to which it addressed ethical considerations set out in the World Health Organization’s 2021 Guidance on the Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence for Health. A coding framework was created based on the six ethical principles proposed in the Guidance and was used as the basis for a content analysis. 101 references to aspects of the framework were identified in the Plan, but attention to the ethical principles was found to be uneven, ranging from the strongest focus on the potential benefits of AI to healthcare professionals and patients (n = 44; Principle 2), to no consideration of the need for responsive or sustainable AI (n = 0; Principle 6). Ultimately, the findings show that the Plan reflects insufficient consideration of the ethical issues that arise from developing and implementing AI for healthcare purposes. This case study is used to argue that, given the ethical complexity of the use of digital health technologies, consideration of the full range of ethical concerns put forward by the WHO must urgently be made visible in future plans for AI in healthcare.
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spelling doaj.art-b949fbbed3bc4207af6ded5ec1c935182023-07-18T02:56:07ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652023-07-011110.3389/fpubh.2023.11420621142062The ethics of advancing artificial intelligence in healthcare: analyzing ethical considerations for Japan’s innovative AI hospital systemAmelia KatiraiPublic and private investments into developing digital health technologies—including artificial intelligence (AI)—are intensifying globally. Japan is a key case study given major governmental investments, in part through a Cross-Ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) for an “Innovative AI Hospital System.” Yet, there has been little critical examination of the SIP Research Plan, particularly from an ethics approach. This paper reports on an analysis of the Plan to identify the extent to which it addressed ethical considerations set out in the World Health Organization’s 2021 Guidance on the Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence for Health. A coding framework was created based on the six ethical principles proposed in the Guidance and was used as the basis for a content analysis. 101 references to aspects of the framework were identified in the Plan, but attention to the ethical principles was found to be uneven, ranging from the strongest focus on the potential benefits of AI to healthcare professionals and patients (n = 44; Principle 2), to no consideration of the need for responsive or sustainable AI (n = 0; Principle 6). Ultimately, the findings show that the Plan reflects insufficient consideration of the ethical issues that arise from developing and implementing AI for healthcare purposes. This case study is used to argue that, given the ethical complexity of the use of digital health technologies, consideration of the full range of ethical concerns put forward by the WHO must urgently be made visible in future plans for AI in healthcare.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1142062/fullartificial intelligencehealthcareethicsJapanAI Hospitalinnovation
spellingShingle Amelia Katirai
The ethics of advancing artificial intelligence in healthcare: analyzing ethical considerations for Japan’s innovative AI hospital system
Frontiers in Public Health
artificial intelligence
healthcare
ethics
Japan
AI Hospital
innovation
title The ethics of advancing artificial intelligence in healthcare: analyzing ethical considerations for Japan’s innovative AI hospital system
title_full The ethics of advancing artificial intelligence in healthcare: analyzing ethical considerations for Japan’s innovative AI hospital system
title_fullStr The ethics of advancing artificial intelligence in healthcare: analyzing ethical considerations for Japan’s innovative AI hospital system
title_full_unstemmed The ethics of advancing artificial intelligence in healthcare: analyzing ethical considerations for Japan’s innovative AI hospital system
title_short The ethics of advancing artificial intelligence in healthcare: analyzing ethical considerations for Japan’s innovative AI hospital system
title_sort ethics of advancing artificial intelligence in healthcare analyzing ethical considerations for japan s innovative ai hospital system
topic artificial intelligence
healthcare
ethics
Japan
AI Hospital
innovation
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1142062/full
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