Ethics of AI and Health

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Artificial intelligence is re-shaping health and healthcare at a blistering pace. Doctors are using machine-learning algorithms to diagnose illnesses faster and more accurately than a human can. Smart devices are tracking and analyzing the personal health metrics of millions. Surgical teams are using augmented reality underpinned by AI algorithms to guide scalpels and increase precision. These advances hold both ethical opportunities and ethical challenges--from the promise of cheaper, more effective, more personalized care, and advancements in research and therapeutics to the perils of algorithmic bias, the loss or devaluing of human care, the cementing of health inequities, and the surveillance and exploitation of minoritized and vulnerable groups. This course will provide an introduction to critical issues in AI and Health Ethics that aims to equip students with key ethical concepts, theories, and frameworks to help navigate this complex emergent terrain. Particular foci will include AI developments in areas of physical, mental, sexual, and social health, and the course will canvas key readings in bioethics, political philosophy, and feminist and critical race theory. This course satisfies Georgetown’s ethics distribution requirement and is part of Georgetown’s Ethics Lab, a hub for creative ethics education. Ethics Lab courses include collaborative activities and projects to help students learn to discern fundamental moral values at stake in contemporary issues, think creatively about how to approach complex problems, and cultivate responsible agency to become moral leaders.