AI-powered healthcare promises to solve current problems, offering more efficient, unbiased
and accurate care to users. This chapter seeks to ground the promises of AI discourses within
concerns of epistemic injustice in healthcare and unpack the roles of knowledge creation,
control, and use within the medical AI app context. We begin by underscoring the impact of
inequality on knowledge production, particularly in relation to the female body, and the
epistemic injustice it gives rise to. We the…
Read moreAI-powered healthcare promises to solve current problems, offering more efficient, unbiased
and accurate care to users. This chapter seeks to ground the promises of AI discourses within
concerns of epistemic injustice in healthcare and unpack the roles of knowledge creation,
control, and use within the medical AI app context. We begin by underscoring the impact of
inequality on knowledge production, particularly in relation to the female body, and the
epistemic injustice it gives rise to. We then spotlight the current narrative that AI can serve as
a remedy for epistemic injustice by providing insights into patient data, which is collected and
input by the patient. This data is positioned as objective, opening up avenues for AI to delve
into medical conditions and, at an individual level, empower people by tracking their medical
journeys. However, we argue that such applications may inadvertently shift the burden of proof
from the practitioner to the user, potentially creating additional barriers to healthcare and
exacerbating existing inequality and injustice. This chapter not only delves into these potential
pitfalls but also emphasises the crucial role of ethical frameworks in fostering justice in the
emerging knowledge systems within and about AI in the healthcare context.
