{"id":136464,"date":"2025-10-21T17:13:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T17:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/136464\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T17:13:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T17:13:07","slug":"ai-use-by-doctors-brings-significant-challenges-says-medical-council-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/136464\/","title":{"rendered":"AI use by doctors brings \u2018significant\u2019 challenges, says Medical Council \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Advancements in artificial intelligence<\/a> (AI) bring \u201csignificant\u201d ethical, legal, regulatory and professional challenges for doctors, the sector\u2019s regulatory body has said.<\/p>\n

AI is increasingly being used across the Irish health system, particularly in the area of medical imaging and diagnostics, with the Mater hospital in Dublin earlier this year launching a new Centre for AI and Digital Health.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the Medical Council<\/a> published a position paper on the use of AI in the medical profession, stating it \u201coffers the potential to improve patient outcomes, streamline processes, and support evidence-based care\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, the regulator said that, while the technology can \u201cassist\u201d with diagnostics and treatment recommendations, doctors \u201cmust have confidence in the standard of the tool they are utilising\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoctors ultimately remain responsible for their clinical decisions in the treatment of their patients. Like any other diagnostic tool, the use of AI should augment, rather than replace, clinical decision-making, reinforcing the doctor\u2019s duty to scrutinise and interpret AI recommendations appropriately,\u201d the position paper states.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoctors must rely on their critical thinking, reasoning, and judgment as the final authority. Maintaining accurate and comprehensive records will provide important evidence of sound clinical judgment and accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Medical Council said transparency is \u201cessential\u201d and patients must be informed when AI tools are used in their care, but the level of disclosure would depend on how and when it is being used.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, if AI is being used as part of software to improve the accuracy of interpreting diagnostic images, the doctor would not be expected to provide technical detail about how the software works,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, if a doctor is using an AI tool to record consultations, they would need to provide more information about how the AI works and may impact the patient in terms of its collection and use of their personal information (for example, if public generative AI software is used personal information becomes public domain).\u201d<\/p>\n

The council also warned of risks that AI could reinforce bias and inequality, particularly affecting vulnerable or underrepresented groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoctors have a duty to advocate for fairness and equity in healthcare and must ensure that AI contributes to, rather than detracts from, these goals. It is essential that no patient is disadvantaged or harmed due to hidden biases within AI algorithms,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Jantze Cotter, executive director of regulatory policy and standards of the Medical Council said AI advancements \u201chold great potential for the medical field but also introduce significant ethical, legal, regulatory and professional challenges for doctors using AI in their practice\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn cases where AI contributes to errors or adverse outcomes, the same professional and legal standards apply as they would for any other clinical tool or technology. Strong governance frameworks help mitigate risks, ensuring AI is used ethically, transparently, and in alignment with best practices,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) bring \u201csignificant\u201d ethical, legal, regulatory and professional challenges for doctors, the sector\u2019s regulatory…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":73035,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[275],"tags":[289,18,135,475,474,19,17,31517],"class_list":{"0":"post-136464","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-artificial-intelligence","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-health-care","12":"tag-healthcare","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-medical-council"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}