An Ethical Framework for Development and Deployment of Autonomous AI Agents in Clinical Care

2/5/2025 • PLOS Digital Health • License: CC BY

The Hastings Center (The Hastings Center)

Abstract

The emergence of agentic AI in healthcare presents novel ethical challenges. This consensus paper, authored by a multidisciplinary group of ethicists, clinicians, and computer scientists, proposes a comprehensive ethical framework. Key principles include meaningful human oversight ('human-in-the-loop'), transparent reasoning, clear lines of accountability for errors, and robust mechanisms for overriding the agent's actions.

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Clinical implications

As AI agents become more autonomous in healthcare, this paper lays out a critical ethical guide. It stresses that a human must always be in control, the AI's decisions must be understandable, and there must be clear responsibility when things go wrong. This framework is essential for safely integrating these powerful tools into patient care.

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