Journal Club: Can medical algorithms be fair? Three ethical quandaries and one dilemma

Join Kristine Bærøe and Torbjørn Gundersen from the Universities of Bergen and Oslo in discussion with Katie MacLure (BCS Health & Care Scotland) for our next live BCS BMJ HCI Journal Club hosted by Digital Health.

This journal club is based on a paper entitled, ‘Can medical algorithms be fair? Three ethical quandaries and one dilemma.’ The authors present a philosophical discussion to demonstrate what it takes to reconcile the idea of fairness in medical algorithms and machine learning (ML) with the broader discourse of fairness and health equality in health research. They present a methodological approach and theoretical ethical analysis. The authors show that the question of ensuring comprehensive ML fairness is interrelated to three quandaries and one dilemma. Lastly, they conclude that more analytical work is needed to conceptualise fairness in ML so it adequately reflects the complexity of justice and fairness concerns within the field of health research. Do you agree? Does this reflect your experience? Is it the same worldwide or national differences?