[Artificial Intelligence in Medicine. Ethical reflections from the thought of Edmund Pellegrino].

Abstract

The current scenario of health sciences, and of Medicine in particular, is characterized by the growing role of Artificial Intelligence (AI), thus projecting towards the consolidation of a new model of Medicine. Along with the undeniable advantages offered by the application of AI for the diagnosis and treatment of complex clinical problems, some ethical questions arise, which demand careful reflection. However, most of the literature that addresses the ethical issues associated with the use of AI in medicine does so from the poiesis' perspective. Indeed, a large part of that evidence is related to the design, programming, training and operation of algorithms, problems that exceed the competences of the health professionals that use them. Our proposal is framed in the ethics of virtue outlined by Edmund Pellegrino, which is a valuable epistemological perspective to trace a path of reflection on the ethical problems arising from the use of AI in Medicine. This perspective -based on a sound philosophy of Medicine- adopts the praxis' point of view, that is, of the acting subject. Since the health professional is a moral agent who uses AI as a tool to achieve an end -the good of the patient-,from Pellegrino's perspective it is possible to ask how the use of AI might influence the achievement of the goal of medical work and thus, be considered a criterion of ethical orientation.