Trustworthy & Ethical AI lab at CSS

The Trustworthy & Ethical AI Lab, TEA Lab, is an interdisciplinary research collaboration between experts in a wide range of fields including medicine, philosophy, psychology and social sciences that aims to advance ethical, transparent and sustainable AI applications. The purpose of the new TEA Lab is to study AI integrated medical decision-making based on the EU Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI (AI HLEG). Since the foundations of Trustworthy AI is grounded in its adherence to ethical principles based on fundamental rights, our work will be rooted in the four ethical principles of respect for human autonomy, prevention of harm, fairness and explicability. 

The Trustworthy & Ethical AI Lab will collaborate with, among others, the Z-Inspection® initiative. Z-Inspection® is a holistic process for evaluating the trustworthiness of AI-based technologies at different stages of the AI lifecycle. In particular, this approach focuses on identifying and discussing ethical issues and tensions through the development of socio-technical scenarios. Rather than using a monolithic and static ethical checklist for the evaluation of the AI systems, this holistic approach looks at the overall impact that an AI system has on the decision-making process. In this participatory process, involving several different stakeholders, the ethical, technical, domain specific and legal implications of an AI system is assessed within its given context, creating a nuanced image of its different effects. Several of the researchers affiliated with the TEA Lab have previously worked with the Z-Inspection® initiative and its procedures in separate case studies.

In an early project, we will conduct research on the risk for AI paternalism in medical decision-making as well as questions of trust in AI integrated medical decision-making. By taking into consideration ethical concerns such as algorithmic bias, the risk for responsibility gaps and transparency issues, the TEA Lab will aim to generate awareness and understanding for ethical integration of AI systems in the public healthcare sector. The TEA Lab will also look at case studies of different AI applications in the healthcare sector, to create a deeper understanding for the impact that AI systems have on the decision-making process. The insights gained will contribute to public education, academic research, and graduate programs, encouraging the responsible integration of AI in healthcare settings.

Researchers currently affiliated to the lab