Artificial intelligence (AI) has many potential uses across all industries, including healthcare fields like veterinary medicine. However, despite Al being helpful and revolutionary, questions and ethical concerns are being raised.
Veterinary professionals considering AI technology must carefully consider the risks and benefits before relying on untested technology to assist with clinical decision-making or routine daily tasks. Let’s examine the ethical aspects of AI in veterinary practice.
The rise of AI in veterinary medicine
Although the veterinary profession is generally slow to adopt new technologies, AI already is ubiquitous and hard to avoid. These technologies are trickling into everyday workflows as built-in software features, particularly in diagnostics, communication, and record-keeping. Your favorite apps and software may already use AI-based features to augment functionality. Here’s how:
- Diagnostics — AI algorithms can help produce faster and more accurate interpretations of imaging, blood, urine, and cytology tests. Radiologists and pathologists are training diagnostic AI tools to ensure their accuracy and utility.
- Predictive analytics — AI can analyze data to identify patterns that humans may not readily recognize. Examples include identifying disease outbreaks, creating diagnostic differentials, and tracking trends for earlier disease detection in individual patients.
- Record-keeping — AI can assist with note-taking, dictation, SOAP creation, audits, and automated follow-ups, drastically improving clinic efficiency and individual work-life balance.
AI risks and concerns
AI systems don’t work like human brains and, instead, require targeted training using vast amounts of data. Open-source AI tools, such as ChatGPT, can use the data and information you enter for training purposes. The collection, storage, and processing of this data pose significant privacy risks for you, your hospital, and your clients. A data breach could compromise sensitive client or clinic information.
Humans coordinate AI training and feed the relevant information, which means AI can reflect our society’s inherent biases. And, because of AI’s complexity, errors can occur that could translate to patient harm without checks and balances. The accuracy of a particular AI tool depends on its purpose and exact algorithms, and they should continually be evaluated with a healthy sense of skepticism.
Other ethical concerns with AI in veterinary medicine include a potential for new clinicians to rely too heavily on AI to produce diagnostic data and develop differential lists, or other tasks that can only be honed with years of experience. Although less applicable to veterinary medicine, some fear AI will eliminate jobs and put people out of work.
The future of AI in veterinary medicine
A recent American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) survey found that over 80% of veterinary professionals are familiar with AI, and 30% already use the technology. As AI technologies evolve, their integration into veterinary practices is expected to expand. Advanced uses include pet health personalization using patterns and predictions, AI chatbots, and virtual assistants to enhance client care and diagnostics that predict lymphoma response to chemotherapy.
AI’s future in veterinary medicine is promising. Veterinary schools are expected to incorporate AI training into their curricula to prepare future veterinarians to effectively evaluate and utilize the technology in practice. However, the profession must establish industry-wide standards and regulations to ensure that AI is ethically and effectively implemented.
AI in veterinary medicine: Best practices
Veterinary professionals wishing to use AI to assist in diagnostic interpretations, eliminate administrative busywork, and care for their patients at a higher level should follow these best practices:
- Use AI tools that have been tested and validated in a veterinary context before trusting them.
- Critically evaluate AI outputs to ensure accuracy, including fact-checking generative AI models like ChatGPT.
- Be transparent. Inform clients of your AI use to earn their trust and allow them to opt out if they have privacy or data concerns.
- Recognize that you are responsible for patient outcomes, not AI.
- Train staff on AI’s ethical implications and set boundaries for appropriate AI use within each clinical role.
Understanding the risks and benefits of AI in veterinary medicine and knowing the new technologies must be adopted with caution can help your practice make positive changes without compromising ethical standards.
Key takeaways
- AI can improve efficiency and patient care, but poses ethical challenges like data privacy risks and biases.
- AI tools may collect and store sensitive data, which leaves the data vulnerable to future breaches. Limit data sharing, inform clients about AI use, and allow them to opt out to earn trust and buy-in.
- While AI supports clinical decision-making, veterinarians are ultimately responsible for patient outcomes. Use validated AI tools, verify outputs, and ensure staff understand the ethical considerations.
Provet Cloud and AI: A perfect match
Provet Cloud incorporates native AI and popular third-party integrations to streamline workflows, improve decision-making, and save time. Our full-featured, cloud-based system helps practices work smarter, not harder.
Schedule a demo to see how modern veterinary practice management software and AI can transform your practice.
