Australian advocacy organisation Digital Rights Watch has published a discussion paper on AI scribes in medical settings in Australia, outlining potential harms, and opportunities for regulation. The organisation has committed to ensuring the introduction of AI in healthcare is done with privacy and safety at the forefront.
It’s key finding is that AI companies are exposing Australians to healthcare systems which are unregulated, untested, and often used without consent.
“Primary healthcare providers in Australia are rapidly adopting AI scribes – software tools that record and transcribe clinical consultations. While these tools may offer some administrative benefits for medical practices, this report finds that their rate of adoption is outpacing both regulation and due diligence, creating serious and largely unaddressed risks for patients”.
Digital Rights Watch says:
- AI scribes should be regulated as a clinical devices, tested for bias and accuracy
- The Government should pass Tranche 2 of Privacy reform
- Patients should be meaningfully involved in regulatory conversations about AI scribes, and have a ‘right to refuse’ AI scribes without losing access to healthcare
The organisation has a campaign and petition underway.
“It is entirely reasonable for a person to reject the use of AI scribes in the course of their healthcare. But patients are being refused healthcare for precisely this reason.
“No-one in Australia should be denied healthcare, full stop. But especially no-one should be denied healthcare because they don’t want to be forced to give their private and potentially sensitive medical data to an AI corporation,” says the campaign.
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