Using it could lead to unintended and unwelcome consequences. These concerns relate to confidentiality, consent, quality of care, reliability and inequity.
It is too early to know all the ethical implications of the adoption of ChatGPT in healthcare and research. The more this technology is used, the clearer the implications will get. But questions regarding potential risks and governance of ChatGPT in medicine will inevitably be part of future conversations, and we focus on these briefly below.First of all, the use of ChatGPT runs the risk of committing privacy breaches. Successful and efficient AI depends on machine learning.
Confidentiality of patient information forms the basis of trust in the doctor-patient relationship. ChatGPT threatens this privacy – a risk that vulnerable patients may not fully understand. Consent to AI assisted healthcare could be suboptimal. Patients might not understand what they are consenting to. Some may not even be asked for consent. Therefore medical practitioners and institutions may expose themselves to litigation.
Another bioethics concern relates to the provision of high quality healthcare. This is traditionally based on robust scientific evidence. Using ChatGPT to generate evidence has the potential to accelerate research and scientific publications. However, ChatGPT in its current format is static – there is an end date to its database. It does not provide the latest references in real time. At this stage, “human” researchers are doing a more accurate job of generating evidence.