Challenges to AI use in anesthesia and healthcare: An anesthesiologist’s perspective

Abstract

Anesthesiology is well positioned to benefit from applications of artificial intelligence on multiple elements such as monitoring the depth of anesthesia, control of anesthetic machine functions, ultrasound guidance for procedures and diagnosis, adverse event prediction, pain assessment and management, and optimising the operating room workflow. The ethical concerns can arise from multiple aspects of AI research and deployment such as the nature and source of the data, data collection methodologies, AI models design, output interpretation and inappropriate use. AI solution can have the unintended consequences like perpetuation of systematic biases and discrimination towards under-represented sections of society. There could be conflicts about data protection, intellectual property rights and economic gains. Also, the research must be transparent and solutions feasible. The clinician’s role is ever changing in this landscape. We will discuss the broad ethical frameworks that are applicable to developing and using AI in medicine.