Ethical Implications of Brain-Computer Interface and Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Health Care

Artificial intelligence and brain-computer interfaces are two novel technologies that have numerous potential areas of application in medicine. They raise, however, significant ethical implications that call for reflection and discussion before deciding about the use of these kinds of applications. In this chapter, I present some examples of these technologies, focusing first on the ethical implications of medical research on brain-computer interfaces. Using the example of a recent case of alleged scientific misconduct, I highlight the dangers inherent in this kind of research on clinical technology. Second, I focus on ethical issues in the clinical application of artificial intelligence and deep learning algorithms in medicine and highlight some risks and challenges for the patient–physician relationship, but more fundamentally also for the character of medicine