Navigating the Ethical Challenges of AI in Surgery

AI and Machine Learning (ML) have become indispensable in surgical practices.

While these technologies offer considerable potential, surgeons must remain vigilant about the practical and ethical AI dilemmas.

AI and ML can serve as tools that augment the very skills surgeons themselves already possess.

For example, an algorithm trained to identify pneumonia can assist a clinician by analyzing medical images.

Such AI tools ultimately perform tasks that require validation and confirmation from the physician.

The responsibility of diagnosis and decision-making still rests with the physician.

As AI capabilities progress, especially in predictive analytics and data analysis, physicians may encounter a dilemma.

Surgeons might find themselves relying on clinical information provided by AI/ ML without the means to verify its veracity independently.

This raises a fundamental concern:

• What happens if the algorithm makes an error?

• Who bears the liability for such mistakes?

• Is it the physician? The hospital that bought the software? Or the company that produced the software?

Should AI algorithms be subjected to the same approval processes as traditional treatments by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)?

Finding the balance between innovation and patient safety is important.

Another crucial ethical challenge is patient consent.

Is it necessary for patients to give explicit consent for AI involvement in their healthcare and use their data in training machine learning algorithms?

Only through responsible innovation and implementation can we harness the full potential of AI and ML in surgery while respecting the principles of medical ethics and patient safety.