Machine Vision, Medical AI, and Malpractice

The introduction of novel medical technology into clinical practice gives rise to novel questions of legal liability when something goes wrong. The complexity of the technology is often paralleled by the complexity of the liability analysis, which is why questions of malpractice involving medical artificial intelligence are so vexing. There are myriad medical use cases for artificial intelligence (AI), but some of the most promising applications involve the use of machine vision for imaging diagnostics. However, these machine vision applications involve complicated software models, the operation of which can be opaque at times even to its designers. This introduces concerns from physicians over whether they can trust a machine they do not fully understand or rely on its judgements. This can also arouse fear over the possibility of malpractice claims. Some of the recent advances in machine learning technology make its results easier to interpret, allowing medical professionals to feel more confident in using the technology. This article illustrates how such innovations are likely to impact the legal system and malpractice suits. We conclude that the unique capabilities and functions of AI and machine vision, especially when conjoined with the aforementioned advances in their interpretability, create an opportunity to argue that the technology actually minimizes physician liability. These advances in machine vision interpretability also change the legal landscape for the manufacturers of this technology. We examine impacts to products liability, focusing specifically on the issue of whether such technology would (or will soon) be considered a "product," and how this might affect manufacturers’ product development and marketing strategies. We also consider how the learned intermediary defense might be deployed in failure-to-warn cases involving medical machine vision, again looking to how the legal doctrine is likely to impact manufacturer behavior in the design and deployment of such technologies