Ethical Considerations of Using Artificial Intelligence in Libraries at Medical Universities: A Narrative Review
Journal of Medical Library and Information Science,
Vol. 6 No. 6 (2025),
5 April 2025
,
Page 1-10
https://doi.org/10.22037/jmlis.v6i.48761
Abstract
Introduction: Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly integrated into medical university libraries, transforming information retrieval, knowledge organization, and user support. While AI offers efficiency and personalization, its adoption raises critical ethical concerns that align with medical ethics and library science. This narrative review examines the ethical implications of AI in medical university libraries, focusing on four guiding principles: Privacy and data protection, transparency and accountability, equity and access, and trust and user autonomy.
Methods: In this narrative review, a systematic search of the literature identified 43 relevant studies published between 2019 and 2025 using four major scholarly databases. Evidence was synthesized to highlight risks, ethical implications, and strategies proposed for responsible AI integration.
Results: Privacy concerns centered on risks of data breaches, vendor misuse, and long-term data retention, requiring compliance with GDPR/HIPAA and adoption of encryption and anonymization protocols. Transparency and accountability challenges stemmed from algorithmic opacity and bias, necessitating audits, explainable AI, and shared governance. Equity and access issues reflected institutional disparities and barriers for digitally marginalized users, emphasizing open-source tools, multilingual support, and digital literacy programs. Finally, trust and user autonomy were threatened by over-reliance on automated systems, highlighting the need for librarian oversight, ethics education, and user feedback mechanisms.
Conclusion: AI adoption in medical university libraries requires a robust ethical framework to safeguard privacy, promote transparency, ensure equitable access, and preserve user trust. Future research should focus on empirical evaluations, cross-cultural perspectives, and policy frameworks tailored to academic medical libraries.
- Artificial intelligence
- Medical libraries
- Academic Libraries
- Ethics
- Privacy
- Transparency
- Equity
How to Cite
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