Đề thi VSTEP Reading C1 — The Ethics of AI in Medical Decisions

As artificial intelligence systems become increasingly integrated into clinical practice, ethical questions surrounding their deployment in medical decision-making have intensified. AI tools now assist physicians in diagnosing diseases, predicting patient outcomes, and recommending treatment pathways. Proponents argue that these systems can process vast datasets with a precision unattainable by human practitioners, potentially reducing diagnostic errors that contribute to thousands of preventable deaths annually. Yet critics raise substantial concerns. When an algorithm recommends a particular course of treatment, determining responsibility for adverse outcomes becomes legally and ethically complex. Furthermore, training datasets often reflect historical biases, meaning AI systems may underdiagnose conditions in marginalised populations. A 2019 study published in a leading medical journal demonstrated that a widely-used hospital allocation algorithm systematically disadvantaged Black patients. Some ethicists advocate for a hybrid model in which AI functions as a decision-support tool rather than an autonomous decision-maker. Under this framework, physicians retain ultimate authority while leveraging algorithmic insights. However, this compromise raises its own questions: if a doctor overrides an AI's recommendation and the patient suffers harm, should the algorithm's warning have prevailed? The medical community remains divided.