On November 18 (local time), the WHO Regional Office for Europe unveiled its newest report, titled "Artificial Intelligence in the Health Sector: Current State of Readiness in the European Region". The report highlights that although AI is undergoing a rapid transformation and is being extensively utilized in the healthcare sector, the corresponding legal and ethical safeguards are trailing far behind. This gap makes it challenging to offer effective protection for both patients and healthcare professionals.
Drawing on feedback from 50 out of the 53 Member States in the European region, the report presents, for the first time, a comprehensive and systematic overview of the current status of AI application, regulation, and associated risks within healthcare systems.
The report underscores that AI has already become a pivotal force in diagnosis, streamlining administrative duties, and improving communication between doctors and patients. Nevertheless, as its deployment gathers pace, problems like ambiguous responsibility assignment, insufficient data security measures, and the lack of proper legal frameworks are becoming more and more conspicuous.