AI in MSK Education Series, in partnership with Information Governance Services
Balancing ethical benefits and risks, rethinking consent and the social contract for AI-driven health research
This webinar (which originally took place on 5th July 2024) features Dr Alex McKeown
Head of Data Ethics, IGS and Visiting Fellow, University of Oxford, talking about the implications of AI for (informed) consent in health research.
DR ALEX McKEOWN – The ethics of data quality in healthcare AI: What is it, and why does it
Key takeaways from this video:
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If we want to realise the potential gains of AI use in health / MSK research, we have to accept that its inherent unpredictability poses a challenge to historic norms of consent
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Although alternative consent models are valuable, they are both imperfect and only a component; the significance of AI for practice needs a comprehensive conceptual treatment
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Social contract arguments are often deployed to argue for a nominal civic obligation to participate in health research. These are misleading, and thus unreliable as a policy framing
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An approach informed by the legal concept of ‘reasonable expectations’ provides a less abstract, more pragmatic way to address the concrete realities and relevant ethical factors
- Scope for dissent and opt-out, honesty about trade-offs, detailed discursively-focused education can help to ensure AI research policy is socially legitimate and ethically sound