A powerful potion for a potent problem: transformative justice for generative AI in healthcare

Abstract

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), as a transformative technology, holds significant promise for applications in healthcare. At the same time, the datafication, AI integration, and commodification of health have opened the floodgates for ethical issues, including those related to fairness, access, beneficence, democracy, solidarity, inclusion, and societal harms. As further the digitalization, innovation, and disruption of healthcare is inevitable, the paper maps out how power, equity, access, identity, participation, and knowledge contribute to creating social injustice issues. It also discusses that current justice approaches—distributive justice, representational justice, restorative justice, and capabilities-centered justice—do not have enough impact to prevent or remedy the many harms and injustices that AI has already created in healthcare or will continue to do so. The paper proposes that a transformative justice approach is needed for generative AI as a transformative technology, focused on (1) peace, emancipation, and eliminating the root causes of injustice, (2) holistic conflict resolution, (3) human rights-based approaches, and (4) the empowerment of agency and actors.