Ethical issues of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare in Developing Countries: A Systematic Review of Empirical Studies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21649/akemu.v31iSpl2.5827Keywords:
Artificial intelligence; Healthcare; Ethics issues; Developing Countries; systematic reviewAbstract
Significant improvements in diagnosis, treatment, and patient outcomes are possible with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare. However, there is still a lack of research on ethical issues, especially in developing nations. This systematic review, conducted following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, identified 22 studies from a comprehensive search of 2977 records published between January 2019 and May 2024. Ethical themes were categorised using Jobin et al.'s framework and the European Commission's Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI (EGTAI), while studies were evaluated using Kitchenham and Charters' quality checklist. Nine main ethical issues were identified by thematic analysis; the most often discussed issues were data privacy and justice, followed by patient safety, autonomy, and cyber-security. Benevolence received the least attention, while notable ethical conundrums included bias, fairness, discrimination, algorithmic transparency, and data protection. This systematic review highlights the need for stronger regulatory frameworks, ethical guidelines, and governance structures to ensure responsible AI integration in healthcare, particularly in developing countries, and calls for further research to address existing gaps.
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