2019 AER Conference

Closing General Session Luncheon—Designing Ethical Cars and Computing Clinicians: Research and the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Programming

Moderator(s)

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  Neal W. Dickert, MD, PhD
  

  Associate Professor, Division of Cardiology, Emory University School of Medicine
  Associate Professor of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine

Panelist(s)

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  Marshall Chin, MD, MPH
  

  Richard Parrillo Family Professor of Healthcare Ethics in the Department of Medicine, University of Chicago
  Richard Parrillo Family Professor of Healthcare Ethics in the Department of Medicine, University of Chicago
• 

  David Magnus, PhD
  

  Thomas A. Raffin Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Ethics and Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, Stanford University
  
• 

  Tamiko Eto, MS, CIP
  

  Acting Director and IRB Chair of Office of Research Integrity, HRPP Manager, Stanford Research Institute (SRI) International
  

Autonomous cars will need to be programmed to execute ethical decisions in life-threatening situations; if there’s an accident, the car may go straight or swerve, with different results for the affected parties. Should cars be programmed to value all lives equally (e.g., should they sacrifice adults to save children?). Similarly, when AI programs are designed to make recommendations to clinicians about medical diagnosis and treatment, those programs may reflect different ethical perspectives about what the “right” course of action should be (e.g., should programs favor the most efficient use of medical resources or should they favor the patient’s ability to choose their desired treatment?). Will these AI programs serve to increase the gap between those who get better or worse healthcare, or can and should they be designed to reduce those differences? Many of these decisions are made implicitly at present, but development of AI algorithms forces us to make these decisions explicitly. This session will consider the policy and research issues raised by these two developing technologies. Someone–government, producers, or consumers–will be making decisions about which ethical perspectives will be built into autonomous cars and clinical assistance programs, and everyone will feel the consequences. If research is to inform any of these decisions, IRBs may be reviewing research proposals designed to compare different ways to implement autonomous cars and computing clinicians, almost certainly without the informed consent affected by the interventions (and, who are the subjects?). Before you leave the conference in a car or make your next doctor’s appointment, you might want to hear what these panelists say about what’s coming down the road. Note: Lunch will be served during this session and pre-registration is encouraged. The formal presentation will begin at 1:15 PM.