6.Q. Round table: Artificial Intelligence in healthcare: navigating ethically with equity and workforce empowerment
Authors:   Organised by: EUPHA-HCW, -ETH, -MIG, WHO Collaborating Center for Health Workforce Policies and Planning, Faculty of Public Health (UK), Public Health Ethics and Law Network,   Chair persons: Abi Sriharan (Canada), Ellen Kuhlmann (EUPHA-HCW)
Published: October 2024

Background

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is emerging as a pivotal technology with vast promises for healthcare. However, integrating AI into clinical and public health settings must be cautiously approached to ensure that it does not inadvertently exacerbate existing health system problems. The healthcare workers, already under severe stress, could view AI as a threat to job security rather than as a support mechanism. Moreover, past experiences with digital transformations, such as Electronic Health Records, have shown that technological integration can sometimes increase rather than decrease the burden on healthcare workers, leading to burnout and dissatisfaction, and thus worsening the healthcare workforce crisis. Furthermore, equity and ethical considerations are paramount in the deployment of AI in healthcare. Data privacy, patient consent, and algorithmic bias must be addressed to ensure that AI applications are designed to support and enhance human decision-making that is sensitive to the social determinants of health and accountable to equity and social inclusion, to the needs and rights of the healthcare workforce, and the dignity of the patients and populations. While AI presents significant opportunities for health systems and healthcare workers, there is a lack of knowledge, evidence-based policies, and ethical frameworks that support equitable and human-centred approaches to AI implementation.

Objectives

This round table workshop aligns three major public health challenges: the integration of AI in health systems, the global healthcare workforce crisis, and the improvement of equity and equality. It critically explores capacity building for AI, equity in AI implementation, and regulatory measures for ethical and responsible AI deployment, addressing the following major questions: What are the critical impacts of AI on the healthcare workforce? How can the healthcare workforce be effectively upskilled and supported to adapt to the changes brought by AI technologies? What regulatory frameworks and governance models are necessary to ensure AI’s safe and ethical implementation in healthcare, that is also sensitive to equity, gender equality and the needs of minority groups? Finally, what actionable steps and leadership can public health take to implement AI technologies while addressing the healthcare workforce needs, equity issues, and ethical guidelines? The panellists will illuminate these questions from different disciplinary approaches, helping us to disentangle complexity and to build capacity for evidence-based and socially inclusive AI policies. The workshop contributes to better understand the risks and benefits of AI. It seeks to advance knowledge exchange of good practice experiences and effective implementation.

Key messages

• The effects of AI on the healthcare workforce must be monitored and strategies adapted to mitigate the healthcare workforce crisis and to upskill and empower healthcare workers.

• There is a need for human-centred and ethically responsive AI implementation and governance measures that support equity, gender equality, and diversity in healthcare settings.

Speakers/Panelists

Abi Sriharan

Schulich School of Business York University, York, Canada

Kasia Czabanowska

Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands

Bernadette Kumar

Migration Health Unit, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway

Marius-Ionuț Ungureanu

Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Farhang Tahzib

Faculty of Public Health, Haywards heath, UK