{"title":"It Is Not About AI, It's About Humans. Responsibility Gaps and Medical AI.","authors":"A Giubilini","doi":"10.1007/s11673-025-10423-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-025-10423-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A lot of the language we use to refer to AI, including in healthcare, uses terminology that originally and literally applies to humans and human relationships. Such terminology includes both non-evaluative terms, like \"learning,\" \"memory,\" or \"intelligence,\" and evaluative terms, like \"trust\" or \"responsibility.\" In this article I focus on the latter type and the way it is applied specifically to the case of medical AI. Focusing on the discussion of \"responsibility gaps\" that, according to some, AI generates, I will suggest that such terminology is revealing of the nature of healthcare professional obligations and responsibility prior to and independently of the assessment of the use of AI tools in healthcare. The point I make is generalizable to AI as used and discussed more broadly: the language used to refer to AI often tells more about humans and human relationships than about AI itself and our relationship with it. In healthcare, whatever else AI will allow us to do, it can prompt us to reflect more thoroughly on professional responsibility and professional obligations.</p>","PeriodicalId":50252,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Bioethical Inquiry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144499055","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Worlds Apart, Te Ao Māori and Western Worldviews in Aotearoa, New Zealand.","authors":"A Hikairo Spelman, B V Dieriks","doi":"10.1007/s11673-025-10439-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11673-025-10439-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Even though the last war between Tangata Whenua and the Crown ended over 150 years ago, Tiriti obligations and the rights of Tangata Whenua remain largely unaddressed. Significant disparities persist, with limited discourse on effective solutions. The recently introduced Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill highlights enduring challenges in honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi. This manuscript examines Te Ao Māori (the Māori worldview) and Western worldviews in Aotearoa, exploring their profound cultural differences and implications for relationships between Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti. We highlight the holistic, interconnected nature of Te Ao Māori, rooted in whakapapa, and contrast this with the rationalism and compartmentalization of Western traditions. To bridge these worldview differences, we propose a relationship framework grounded in Te Tiriti o Waitangi to promote equitable, respectful partnerships. This framework addresses power imbalances and advocates for a two-worldview methodology that honours the mana of both perspectives. By integrating these approaches, we identify pathways for building stronger, inclusive relationships. This pluriversal approach respects the integrity of both worldviews and offers a foundation for coexistence rooted in mutual respect.</p>","PeriodicalId":50252,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Bioethical Inquiry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144334344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Justification of Social Egg Freezing and Regulatory Response: China's Law and Practice.","authors":"S Gao, G Liu","doi":"10.1007/s11673-024-10409-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-024-10409-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Social egg freezing (SEF) refers to the act of a woman's voluntary decision to preserve her eggs for future use. It is considered an expression of her right to bodily autonomy, allowing her to make decisions about her own reproductive capacity. As a form of exercising personal rights, SEF is aimed at preserving or extending fertility. Owing to the difference in attributes between it and the traditional \"medical act,\" SEF has sparked significant controversies in the academic world that remain unresolved. These debates stem from uncertainty and are often framed through the lens of consequentialist theory-focusing on potential social, ethical, or medical outcomes. For SEF, a more appropriate position should be taken, based on the theory of rights. This perspective centres on the individual's legitimate claim to exercise bodily autonomy, particularly in relation to their reproductive potential. SEF is essentially a specific claim by a woman to exercise her right to control her own body as a means of realising her autonomy over her own eggs. To avoid the abuse of SEF, necessary legal regulations should be put in place.</p>","PeriodicalId":50252,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Bioethical Inquiry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144327629","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Balancing Parental and Child Interests in Research Subject Compensation.","authors":"J M Appel","doi":"10.1007/s11673-025-10436-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-025-10436-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Both minors enrolled in human subject research and their parents often receive compensation for the former's participation. While considerable literature addresses the ethics of such compensation, the existing literature does not yet consider the challenge of minors and parents who may have divergent views regarding how such compensation should be expended. Since parents generally have broad legal authority over both monetary and in-kind compensation received by their children, ensuring that compensation earmarked for minor subjects are actually expended in accordance with the subjects' interests may prove challenging. This paper assesses the existing legal and ethical landscape in this area and proposes several potential mechanisms through which researchers and IRBs might address this largely overlooked dilemma.</p>","PeriodicalId":50252,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Bioethical Inquiry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144318556","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"AI Mimicking and Interpreting Humans: Legal and Ethical Reflections.","authors":"J M Paterson","doi":"10.1007/s11673-025-10424-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-025-10424-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The increasing prevalence of AI in all facets of human lives raises profound questions of ethics, policy, and law. Interactions with AI in situations that traditionally involve humans demonstrate the growing sophistication and adaptivity of the technology. For this very reason, we may demand some basic rules of engagement from these interactions-AI should not deceive humans into believing it is human or that it has human-like capacities and should be transparent about its artificial status. Law increasingly makes these demands. We may further question as a matter of practical ethics, if not law, whether even \"well-trained\" AI should be used at all in intimate or personal interactions with humans. This essay seeks to explore these issues by reference to a series of examples in which AI seeks to mimic or interpret humans: AI influencers on social media, AI companions, AI mental health therapy chatbots, and AI emotion detection tools.</p>","PeriodicalId":50252,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Bioethical Inquiry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144276501","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reflections on the Cloak of Convenience.","authors":"E Felman, I Kerridge, M Vered, P Komesaroff","doi":"10.1007/s11673-025-10449-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-025-10449-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A key maxim guiding the introduction of new technologies, including those utilizing artificial intelligence, is that such technologies should carry rewards of \"convenience\": indeed, the more \"convenient\" a new technology is considered to be, the more likely it is to be welcomed and adopted. Rudimentary examples from last century include the microwave, washing machine, and dishwasher; more recent innovations from the present century include portable navigation systems, online shopping applications, internet search engines, smart phones, telehealth, automated workplace systems and processes, email and messaging technologies, and-most recently-large language models that are able to undertake multiple complex tasks. Each of these technologies offers a variety of benefits. However, a unifying feature is that all have been considered to enhance convenience, understood as saving time and/or effort. In this paper we explore the provenance and meaning of the-usually unexamined-concept of convenience, identifying an unexpected link with erosion of values and depletion of the diversity and richness of personal experiences. We conclude that the prioritization of convenience as a driver of innovation carries with it risks, which may go unnoticed or be difficult to discern.</p>","PeriodicalId":50252,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Bioethical Inquiry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144259261","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Review of Ethics in Pharmacy Practice: A Practical Guide : Sullivan, D.M., C. Douglas C., Anderson, J.W. Cole (eds). 2021. Ethics in pharmacy practice: A practical guide. Switzerland: Springer Nature. ISBN 978-3-030-72171-8.","authors":"Hisham E Hasan","doi":"10.1007/s11673-025-10461-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-025-10461-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ethics in Pharmacy Practice: A Practical Guide offers a comprehensive and timely resource for navigating the complex ethical challenges faced by pharmacists. This book presents a thorough exploration of ethical decision-making through a blend of moral philosophy and real-world case studies, making it accessible to both students and practicing professionals. Divided into two sections, the text covers fundamental ethical principles, before delving into contemporary issues like reproductive healthcare, end-of-life decisions, vaccine ethics, and the ethical implications of emerging technologies. Its practical approach ensures that readers can apply these ethical concepts directly to their practice. Ideal for pharmacy educators and students, the book serves as both a textbook for academic study and a guide for addressing everyday ethical dilemmas. However, its coverage of rapidly evolving topics may require periodic updates to remain relevant. This work is an essential resource for those seeking to enhance their ethical decision-making skills in an ever-evolving healthcare environment.</p>","PeriodicalId":50252,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Bioethical Inquiry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144217431","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Suicide Risk Assessments Understood as Medical Rituals: Functions and Implications from Societal and Medico-Ethical Perspectives.","authors":"Antoinette Lundahl","doi":"10.1007/s11673-024-10419-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-024-10419-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The use of suicide risk assessments in individual psychiatric treatment is widespread and, in many countries, mandatory. However, these assessments exhibit poor predictive accuracy and offer limited clinical value. This raises the question of whether non-medical reasons underpin their continued use. In this paper, suicide risk assessments are interpreted as medical rituals-formalized, repetitive behaviours imbued with symbolic significance that fulfil social functions. Several such functions are proposed, including uniting care providers around shared values in suicide prevention, fostering a sense of safety and control over suicidal behaviour, projecting accountability, and signalling to the public that action is being taken. However, this practice may inadvertently lead to an increase in non-beneficial compulsory admissions, flawed prioritization of patients, and the proliferation of defensive medicine. While the ritualistic use of suicide risk assessments may serve important societal purposes, their potential to harm individual patients renders them indefensible from a medico-ethical standpoint.Instead, evidence-based suicide preventive interventions are recommended. These include implementing general safety measures, equipping psychiatric patients with safety plans, and providing effective mental health treatment according to medical needs.</p>","PeriodicalId":50252,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Bioethical Inquiry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144210098","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An Even Fairer Exchange: Further Reasons Why Living Kidney Donors in England Should Be Financially Compensated.","authors":"Richard C Armitage","doi":"10.1007/s11673-024-10420-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-024-10420-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Rodger and Venter have proposed a monopsony system in which the National Health Service (NHS) in England, as the single buyer, allows living kidney donors to opt-in to receive £35,000 tax-free financial compensation while preserving the right to donate without such compensation. This approach aims to alleviate the severe and growing shortage of kidneys available for transplant in England and is projected to generate substantial economic savings for the NHS. This paper sets out to strengthen their proposal by: (1) presenting updated figures on the increasing kidney transplant wait list in England to highlight the urgency for intervention; (2) detailing the rigor of the existing donor evaluation process to mitigate concerns about exploitation and coercion in compensated living donation; (3) outlining the various kinds of living kidney donation and the U.K. Living Kidney Sharing Scheme, to demonstrate that the proposal's projected economic benefits are likely to be underestimations; (4) suggesting five modifications to the proposal that do not significantly alter its underlying structure; and (5) providing additional arguments against the major objections to such proposals-that financial compensation is exploitative, coercive, and likely to \"crowd out\" altruistic donors-and showing how the five suggested modifications could strengthen the proposal by bolstering it against those objections. The paper strengthens existing arguments for a pilot project of financial compensation for living kidney donors in England.</p>","PeriodicalId":50252,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Bioethical Inquiry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144210096","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jackie Leach Scully, Georgia van Toorn, Sandra Gendera
{"title":"Automating Misrecognition: The Case of Disability.","authors":"Jackie Leach Scully, Georgia van Toorn, Sandra Gendera","doi":"10.1007/s11673-025-10462-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-025-10462-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Over the last decade, bioethics has begun to address the ethical issues emerging as artificial intelligence (AI) and associated technological processes such as automated decision-making (ADM) become part of healthcare and research. Recent work on justice in AI demonstrates that supposedly neutral AI systems can perpetuate the marginalization of various communities. But so far, there has been little exploration of the interaction of AI and disability. In this empirically based project, we have explored the implications of ADM in the lives of people with disability in Australia. This paper focuses on a point that was consistently raised in discussion by disabled participants but is rarely encountered in the AI ethics literature, especially in relation to disability: the problem of automated systems' failures of recognition.</p>","PeriodicalId":50252,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Bioethical Inquiry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144210097","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}