Big data, artificial intelligence and ethics

Abstract

Big data are certainly an essential component of digital science and technology and also of machine learning, robotics, and new means of communication. They are also part of the digital revolution that is shaking our society to its very roots. The information that the data initially contain, is considerably enriched by cross-referencing data. Highly diverse, these data can berelated to health or well-being. One of the characteristics of big data in health is the blurring of the distinctions underpinningimplementation of the ethical principles that promote the protection of individual rights in health. Precise knowledge of individuals and of their state of health creates a risk of profiling, which threatens the protection of private life and may lead to stigmatization of people or groups. Such stigmatization threatens private life, but also the principles of solidarity and equity which are the basis of our health system. Care and business are becoming increasingly hard to distinguish, as aresult of the transformation of care and of the healthcare market. In addition, ethical principles can be weakened by the exploitation of big data: medical confidentiality, the responsibility of the medical decision and the personal relationship between the doctor and patient. The need for protection of the in-dividual must be reaffirmed and its modalities redefined, to dispel the threat of a society under the surveillance and control of multiple providers acting for various purposes.