Digital Agents in Medicine: New Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

The subject of this article is the new opportunities and challenges that the widespread use of digital agents in medicine brings. ‘Digital agents’ refers to all AI devices, neural networks, mobile applications, chatbots used for diagnostics and patient monitoring. Along with the advantages of their introduction, there are a number of risks provoked by the loss of the human factor and lack of regulation of new technologies. The article discusses the “ethical pitfalls”, without the elimination of which the effective implementation of digital agents in healthcare is impossible. These include: bias, hallucinations and harmful information, data subject privacy and consent, as well as transparency and explainability. It has been observed that there is an increasing delegation of diagnosis and treatment decisions to AI, limiting the autonomy of physicians in favor of pre-defined algorithms. This phenomenon of “digital paternalism” entails a loss of trust in qualified physicians. In addition, the article analyzes the problem of social stratification caused by both limiting access to modern technologies for certain segments of the population and creating barriers for people who prefer traditional approaches to medical care. It concludes that it is necessary to thoroughly discuss and develop rules and regulations for the introduction of digital agents in medicine, taking into account the maximum respect for patients’ rights, preservation of human relations “doctor–patient” and ethical values.