Appropriate artificial intelligence algorithms will ultimately contribute to health equity

Abstrakt

The ideals of an inclusive society with equal opportunities for all individuals without respect, for example, to race, gender, age, or social class have recently been promoted by the United Nations or the European Union (EPRS, 2022). Sociologists, psychologists, economists, or political scientists describe inclusion as the extent to which citizens feel a subjective acceptance within the society or the extent to which they feel being integrated. Inclusion goes hand in hand with environmental responsibility, sustainability, and resilience and is connected with equity and diversity (Shaw et al., 2012). Equity in healthcare (health equity, equity in health) is defined as healthcare with fair opportunities for participation and with equal chances leading to disparate health outcomes for all. Health equity represents an intensively discussed topic with a number of references giving current examples of exclusion (as the contrary of inclusion) and its societal impacts. Inclusive healthcare means equitable access for everybody and supporting health equity is an important aspect of the movement toward an inclusive society. The rapid progress of emerging artificial intelligence (AI) technologies with a potential for a radical shift of clinical practices naturally brings consequences on health equity and a number of recent papers already described particular negative effects of AI on health equity. In the literature, an increase in health inequities is expected (Krouse, 2020) in the near future as a consequence of increasing diversity in populations and also as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.