Allen J W, Earp B D, Koplin J, Wilkinson D. Consent-GPT: is it ethical to delegate procedural consent to conversational AI? J Med Ethics 2023; DOI: 10.1136/jme-2023-109347.

AI may perform better than a junior doctor.

In order to speed clinical flow, informed consent is often delegated in part to a junior member of a team, who may lack the depth of knowledge necessary to ensure patient autonomy and informed decision making.

Recent development in artificial intelligence (AI), including large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, suggest that they have the capability to generate meaningful bespoke conversations with users and respond to questions. One advantage would be the ability to record and store the ‘conversation' for future reference.

It is foreseeable that to overcome the weaknesses in the current process, parts of the consent procedure could be delegated to AI systems. Ethical concerns include doubts about the accuracy of AI understanding and a lack of trust and fear of loss of privacy from patients. Whilst ultimate responsibility for consent would remain with the senior clinician, AI may have some advantages over a junior doctor in the process, in that AI can be ‘comprehensive, engaging and standardised.'