The bioethical challenges of artificial intelligence in medicine

autonomy, responsibility and human dignity

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been progressively incorporated into medicine through systems applied to diagnosis, treatment, clinical management, biomedical research, and the organization of healthcare services. Its development promises to improve diagnostic accuracy, accelerate the identification of clinical patterns, optimize resources, and expand the possibilities for more preventive and personalized medicine. However, these advantages cannot be evaluated solely from the perspective of technical efficiency, as medicine is a human practice that involves life, vulnerability, trust, and human dignity. From a bioethical perspective, the use of AI in healthcare raises issues concerning patient autonomy, informed consent, professional responsibility, non-maleficence, algorithmic transparency, safety, data protection, justice in healthcare, and the risk of exacerbating structural inequalities. This article analyzes these challenges base don classical bioethical principles and complements them with an approach from ontological personalism, which affirms that the sick person cannot be reduced to a set of data, predictions, or manageable variables. Furthermore, the study examines the specific bioethical dilemmas arising in Latin America, where the digital divide, fragmented healthcare systems, and technological dependence can transform innovation into a factor of exclusion. It argues that AI should be understood as a tool to support clinical deliberation, without replacing sound judgment, the physician–patient relationship, or the ethical responsibility of institutions.