Preserving medical ethics in the era of artificial intelligence: Challenges and opportunities in neonatology.

Abstract

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into neonatology offers improved patient care while raising ethical challenges across four principles: beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, and autonomy. AI enhances prediction and early detection capabilities, but introduces concerns including the "black box" nature of many algorithms, which compromises transparency and may propagate existing biases. Justice considerations arise from potential inequities in AI development and deployment. Autonomy is challenged when clinicians cannot fully explain algorithmic decision-making, affecting shared decision-making with families. These ethical tensions are particularly acute in neonatology, where decisions impact vulnerable patients who cannot advocate for themselves. Mitigating these challenges requires developing transparent AI systems, ensuring diverse training data, maintaining human oversight of clinical decisions, and conducting rigorous validation across diverse healthcare settings. Responsible implementation requires balancing technological benefits with ethical principles.