In medicine (as in other disciplines), the importance of IT expertise is generally growing. This in itself requires a culture of interdisciplinary assessment, for which medical ethics committees are not well equipped. The use of big data and AI methods (whether developed in-house or in the form of ‘tools’) poses further challenges for research ethics reviews. The authors describe the problems and suggest solving them through procedural changes. An assessment that is interdisciplinary from the outset appears to be more suitable than two commissions. However, this would entail the demand to change the composition of medical ethics committees. Because questions about the organisation of research ethics reviews also call for criteria to be followed, the article also presents the first steps towards consolidating the criteria for a research ethics review of big data and AI projects.
Between professional standards and wild innovation: On the assessment of big data and AI projects in research ethics committees
