{"id":350318,"date":"2026-03-17T06:51:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T06:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/350318\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T06:51:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T06:51:13","slug":"from-diagnosis-to-data-how-ai-is-reshaping-healthcare-and-raising-ethical-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/350318\/","title":{"rendered":"From diagnosis to data: How AI is reshaping healthcare and raising ethical questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Artificial intelligence (AI) and other new technologies are transforming healthcare<\/a>, driving advances in diagnostics, drug development, and easing the workload of healthcare professionals.<\/p>\n

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Many European countries are already using AI in their health systems. Finland, for example, uses it to train health workers<\/a>, Estonia is applying it to medical data analysis, and Spain is using AI for disease detection.<\/p>\n

If there is one thing experts agree on when talking about artificial intelligence in health, it is that it will never, or should never, replace a health worker. <\/p>\n

\u201cAI is already a reality for millions of health workers and patients across the European Region,\u201d said Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, in a recent statement. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut without clear strategies, data privacy, legal guardrails, and investment in AI literacy, we risk deepening inequities rather than reducing them,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

With the many advantages technological innovation brings to healthcare, there are also many risks: data privacy, access, and representation in the algorithms. <\/p>\n

AI across the health system<\/p>\n

There is also a shortage of the health workforce worldwide, deepened by an ageing population, which is straining health systems. <\/p>\n

Some countries are already partnering with AI companies to help ease the pressure and facilitate access.<\/p>\n

In January 2026, the Gates Foundation and OpenAI announced a $50 million (\u20ac43.6 million) in funding, technology, and technical support to build AI health capacities in African countries. Starting in Rwanda, they aim to reach 1,000 primary healthcare clinics by 2028.<\/p>\n

Doctors in Europe are using AI scribe tools to reduce the amount of time they spend taking notes and doing paperwork, allowing them to spend more time with patients. <\/a><\/p>\n

AI is also starting to be developed for diagnosis<\/a>, which could accelerate the process and allow earlier access to treatment. <\/p>\n

Mind the risks<\/p>\n

But all that glitters is not gold. With the rapid expansion of AI, concerns and warnings from experts are also increasing. <\/p>\n

Recent research has shown that language models may be a dangerous tool<\/a> when looking for medical advice, as they don\u2019t always correctly assess urgency. <\/p>\n

Experts have also warned of the sensitivity of biological data and the need for concrete frameworks for how AI models can access it. <\/p>\n

The gaps in legal accountability, uneven investments in workforce development, and emerging risks of exclusion underscore the need for continued vigilance, cooperation, and learning, the WHO warned in a recent report. <\/p>\n

The organisation found that only 8 percent of its member states have issued a national health-specific AI strategy, \u201can urgent reminder that ambition must be matched with concrete action\u201d. <\/p>\n

As technology evolves, the questions may not be what AI can do in health, but who gets to decide how, and for whom it does it. <\/p>\n

What happens when algorithms are trained on non-representative data? Who has access to the data AI models use? Who should regulate this, and how?<\/p>\n

Experts working at the intersection of artificial intelligence and health will discuss these questions during the Euronews Health Summit<\/a> on 17 March in Brussels. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Artificial intelligence (AI) and other new technologies are transforming healthcare, driving advances in diagnostics, drug development, and easing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350319,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[220,5148,103,397,396,61,60,521,3668],"class_list":["post-350318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-ai","tag-european-union","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-medical-research","tag-who"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}