Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) models introduce unique considerations when determining their epistemic value. Fortunately, existing work on the epistemic features of AI/ML can...

Cho and Martinez-Martin provide a wide-ranging analysis of what they label “digital simulacra”—which are in essence data-driven AI-based simulation models such as digital twins or models used for i...

Mildred Cho and Nicole Martinez-Martin (2023) distinguish between two of the ways in which humans can be represented in medical contexts. One is technical: a digital model of aspects of a person’s...

Much of the discussion of the role of emerging technologies associated with AI, machine learning, digital simulacra, and relevant ethical considerations such as those discussed in the target article, take a relatively narrow and episodic view of a person’s healthcare needs. There is much speculation about diagnostic, treatment, and predictive applications but relatively little consideration of how such technologies might be used to address a person’s lived experience of illness and ongoing care needs. This is likely due to the greater (...) weight or priority given to acute care needs and the role of medical treatment in care provision, but it may also reflect the limitations of current technologies and our limited vision of their potential application. Such limitations are not surprising given that we are still grappling with the complexities and nuances of achieving the ethical and humanistic ideals of care, namely, care that addresses the hermeneutical, relational, contextual, temporal, and agential dimensions of a person’s health and wellbeing. (shrink)

Cho and Martinez-Martin (2023) discuss the ethical challenges associated with the use of digital simulacra (also known as digital twins) in biomedicine, specifically focusing on the issue of episte...

Bioconvergence is a growing area within the evolving bioeconomy that seeks out synergistic opportunities at the intersection of engineering and the life sciences (Greenbaum 2023). One example is th...

Cho and Martinez-Martin (2023) provide a compelling critique of the profound influence that data sourcing for artificial intelligence (AI) has on the healthcare sector. They emphasize the need for...

Cho and Martinez-Martin’s (2023) “Epistemic rights and responsibilities of digital simulacra for biomedicine” presents a comprehensive overview of big data and AI in clinical medicine and research....

Cho and Martinez-Martin (2023) provide a thoughtful analysis of the epistemological and ethical implications of digital twin (DT) technology in biomedical research. However, they overlook the profo...

Digital twins for health care have the potential to significantly impact the provision of medical services. In addition to possible use in care, this technology could serve as a conduit by which no...

This perspective article explores the use of digital twins (DTs) in medicine, highlighting its capacity to simulate risks and personalize treatments while examining the emerging bioethical concerns. Central concerns include power dynamics, exclusion, and misrepresentation. We propose adopting a relational bioethical approach that advocates for a comprehensive assessment of DTs in medicine, extending beyond individual interactions to consider broader structural relations and varying levels of access to power. This can be achieved through two key relational recommendations: acknowledging the impact of (...) uneven relational structures on access to medical care and promoting social justice by evaluating resource allocation. While DTs in medicine offer promising advancements, a relational bioethical lens may provide a nuanced understanding, fostering equitable, inclusive and responsible integration of DTs into medical practice. (shrink)

If you’ve ever had a time where your smartwatch buzzed to say you’ve completed your daily steps while you were actually just brushing your hair, you’ll know our data aren’t perfect. Every day, we c...

In their article, Cho and Martinez-Martin (2023) argue that developers and users of digital simulacra for modelling health and disease should involve a continued focus on causality of health states...

The construction of digital simulacra in healthcare and medical research purportedly strives to virtually recreate some aspect of reality, whether that be a piece of human tissue, an entire organ,...

Digital simulacra present an entrancing vision of a research-rich future shorn of the messiness that comes from dealing with real live patients as part of the research enterprise—and in that sheari...