Artificial Intelligence and Medical Resource Allocation

Abstract

While artificial intelligence (AI) offers the promise of liberating humans from mundane labor, it also has the potential to create an unemployment problem in various economic sectors, including the healthcare industry. Exactly how AI will or should be used within the context of healthcare has emerged as an important ethical question. This article shows how a surplus of human resources will arise from the introduction of AI in the healthcare system and explains how medical resource should be allocated. It is argued that the surplus of human resources caused by the introduction of AI in healthcare should be used for those patients that receive the fewest benefits from the healthcare system.