To all the fans of JARVIS and Baymax: the future is here. Imagine a world where we could ask JARVIS to run diagnostics or ask Baymax to patch up our injuries. Sounds like sci-fi but maybe not for long. AI in healthcare is already here with tools like IBM’s Watson Health assisting doctors in personalised cancer diagnosis and Google’s DeepMind detecting eye diseases as accurately as human experts.
AI in healthcare is capable of analysing medical histories, diagnosing cases, predicting any future complications or success rates and can even assist in surgeries. Further, AI assists in research and development and streamlines various administrative processes within healthcare facilities, such as scheduling appointments and processing insurance claims. In a country like India, with its vast population and low doctor-patient ratio, AI could bridge critical gaps. However, like with any technological advancement, AI in healthcare comes with its own set of legal and ethical challenges.
AI algorithms are not always easy to understand and their decision making process is sometimes baffling to doctors themselves. This raises ethical issues around transparency. Questions of accountability and liability also remain unanswered. Additionally, AI systems are trained using data from different populations, which may not accurately represent the diversity in India. This may lead to a faulty diagnosis.
Being a novel concept, India is yet to develop AI centric laws. Nevertheless, the existing relevant laws could serve as the basis for developing a holistic legal framework. The Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, focuses on digital and cybersecurity issues, data privacy and consent, all of which are directly relevant in handling patient data. The Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002 govern the conduct of doctors. A Digital Information Security in Healthcare Act was proposed in 2017 but was never implemented. It would be pertinent to revisit these laws and integrate them with a legal code that focuses solely on AI in healthcare.
Medical tourism is a fast growing sector in India, which ranks 10th in the Medical Tourism Index. The integration of AI could further establish India as a global healthcare hotspot. However, the introduction of a comprehensive legal framework with clear accountability guidelines and ethical standards are imperative to protect patients without stifling innovation. Policymakers could explore additional measures such as the classification of AI as medical devices and mandatory data localization. As India moves forward, balancing transformative technology with ethical integrity and legal accountability, it is high time that our AI superheroes shake hands with the Lady of Justice.
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