Beyond informed consent: Toward culturally situated consent models in traditional medicine—AI integration

Abstract

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into traditional medical systems such as Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine challenges the adequacy of conventional informed consent frameworks rooted in Western legal and ethical norms. These systems often operate within communal, relational, and culturally embedded paradigms of healing that resist individualistic, document-based approaches to consent. This commentary critically explores the epistemic and ethical tensions between AI-driven digital health tools and indigenous medical practices, highlighting case vignettes that reveal friction and misalignment. It argues for the development of culturally situated consent models that prioritize community engagement, relational autonomy, and culturally meaningful communication. Practical pathways like visual aids, storytelling, local governance mechanisms, and the use of cultural mediators are proposed to facilitate more inclusive, ethically valid AI integration. The article calls for a shift from legal formalism to ethical pluralism, emphasizing the need for consent models that are both technologically adaptive and culturally coherent.