Ethical-legal implications of AI-powered healthcare in critical perspective

The increasing utilization of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems in the field of healthcare, from diagnosis to medical decision making and patient care, necessitates identification of its potential benefits, risks and challenges. This requires an appraisal of AI use from a legal and ethical perspe...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mohammad Nasir, Kaif Siddiqui, Samreen Ahmed
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-07-01
Series:Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frai.2025.1619463/full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849415933243686912
author Mohammad Nasir
Kaif Siddiqui
Samreen Ahmed
author_facet Mohammad Nasir
Kaif Siddiqui
Samreen Ahmed
author_sort Mohammad Nasir
collection DOAJ
description The increasing utilization of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems in the field of healthcare, from diagnosis to medical decision making and patient care, necessitates identification of its potential benefits, risks and challenges. This requires an appraisal of AI use from a legal and ethical perspective. A review of the existing literature on AI in healthcare available on PubMed, Oxford Academic and Scopus revealed several common concerns regarding the relationship between AI, ethics, and healthcare—(i) the question of data: the choices inherent in collection, analysis, interpretation, and deployment of data inputted to and outputted by AI systems; (ii) the challenges to traditional patient-doctor relationships and long-held assumptions about privacy, identity and autonomy, as well as to the functioning of healthcare institutions. The potential benefits of AI’s application need to be balanced against the legal-ethical issues emanating from its use—bias, consent, access, privacy and cost—to guard against detrimental effects of uncritical AI use. The authors suggest that a legal framework for AI should adopt a critical and grounded perspective—cognizant of the material political realities of AI and its wider impact on more marginalized communities. The largescale utilization of health datasets often without consent, responsibility or accountability, further necessitates regulation in the field of technology design, given the entwined nature of AI research with advancements in wearables and sensor technology. Taking into account the ‘superhuman’ and ‘subhuman’ traits of AI, regulation should aim to encourage the development of AI systems that augment rather than outrightly replace human effort.
format Article
id doaj-art-63d7e95096d74590a6a2e5b44bc48889
institution Kabale University
issn 2624-8212
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence
spelling doaj-art-63d7e95096d74590a6a2e5b44bc488892025-08-20T03:33:21ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence2624-82122025-07-01810.3389/frai.2025.16194631619463Ethical-legal implications of AI-powered healthcare in critical perspectiveMohammad Nasir0Kaif Siddiqui1Samreen Ahmed2Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, IndiaNALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, IndiaFaculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, IndiaThe increasing utilization of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems in the field of healthcare, from diagnosis to medical decision making and patient care, necessitates identification of its potential benefits, risks and challenges. This requires an appraisal of AI use from a legal and ethical perspective. A review of the existing literature on AI in healthcare available on PubMed, Oxford Academic and Scopus revealed several common concerns regarding the relationship between AI, ethics, and healthcare—(i) the question of data: the choices inherent in collection, analysis, interpretation, and deployment of data inputted to and outputted by AI systems; (ii) the challenges to traditional patient-doctor relationships and long-held assumptions about privacy, identity and autonomy, as well as to the functioning of healthcare institutions. The potential benefits of AI’s application need to be balanced against the legal-ethical issues emanating from its use—bias, consent, access, privacy and cost—to guard against detrimental effects of uncritical AI use. The authors suggest that a legal framework for AI should adopt a critical and grounded perspective—cognizant of the material political realities of AI and its wider impact on more marginalized communities. The largescale utilization of health datasets often without consent, responsibility or accountability, further necessitates regulation in the field of technology design, given the entwined nature of AI research with advancements in wearables and sensor technology. Taking into account the ‘superhuman’ and ‘subhuman’ traits of AI, regulation should aim to encourage the development of AI systems that augment rather than outrightly replace human effort.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frai.2025.1619463/fullAI-powered healthcareAI regulationaugmented intelligence (AI)health datamedical privacylaw and AI
spellingShingle Mohammad Nasir
Kaif Siddiqui
Samreen Ahmed
Ethical-legal implications of AI-powered healthcare in critical perspective
Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence
AI-powered healthcare
AI regulation
augmented intelligence (AI)
health data
medical privacy
law and AI
title Ethical-legal implications of AI-powered healthcare in critical perspective
title_full Ethical-legal implications of AI-powered healthcare in critical perspective
title_fullStr Ethical-legal implications of AI-powered healthcare in critical perspective
title_full_unstemmed Ethical-legal implications of AI-powered healthcare in critical perspective
title_short Ethical-legal implications of AI-powered healthcare in critical perspective
title_sort ethical legal implications of ai powered healthcare in critical perspective
topic AI-powered healthcare
AI regulation
augmented intelligence (AI)
health data
medical privacy
law and AI
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frai.2025.1619463/full
work_keys_str_mv AT mohammadnasir ethicallegalimplicationsofaipoweredhealthcareincriticalperspective
AT kaifsiddiqui ethicallegalimplicationsofaipoweredhealthcareincriticalperspective
AT samreenahmed ethicallegalimplicationsofaipoweredhealthcareincriticalperspective