Masters scholarship for Tamara Marwood: Ethical artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare: frameworks and facilitators

Opportunity

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are being widely developed by a range of stakeholders for Australia’s healthcare sector. AI-enabled health services hold the promise of new modes of delivery and models of healthcare that are more personalised, effective, and safe for patients and will advance the sustainability of Australia’s healthcare system. The increased use of AI techniques, however, requires research organisations, ethics committees, and data custodians to be able to assess the ethical and privacy implications of AI applications, which may differ from ethical models and regulations typically seen employed in health research and clinical health services in Australia. Similarly, a variety of ethics frameworks have been developed specifically for AI, but not considered in a healthcare setting. Without an evidence base on the application of an AI Ethics Framework within a clinical setting in Australia, the sector lacks guidance on what best practice ethical AI should look like, posing risks to patient experiences and outcomes.

This research project seeks to address this gap by documenting and analysing the application of an AI ethics framework in an Australian hospital setting. This in turn will provide an evidence base to underpin our sectoral leadership in guiding and supporting the sector’s urgent need for greater rigour in and understanding of ethical AI in Australia’s healthcare system.

Project Objective

The overarching aim of this project is to evaluate the application of an AI ethics framework in a hospital setting.

The project will use a literature review and case study of a NSW hospital to:

1. Document how AI ethics frameworks are applied within a hospital setting.
2. Describe the impact on different stakeholders.
3. Identify other ethics frameworks that may be used in conjunction with AI ethics frameworks.
4. Examine how AI ethics is integrated into existing clinical governance principles and practices.

The project will produce evidence about:

• Applicability of AI ethics frameworks in a clinical setting.
• Barriers and facilitators to ethical AI in Australian hospitals.