The use of artificial intelligence in psychiatric treatment and the protection of patients’ privacy

The study will discuss the issue of the limits of protecting the privacy of psychiatric patients in the aspect of the expanding use of artificial intelligence in psychiatric treatment. It refers to simulating the correct process of diagnosis and treatment, determining the appropriate doses of drugs, predicting the patient’s behavior (including the likelihood of suicide attempts), as well as the 24- hour monitoring of the patient, regardless of the place of stay, which often means monitoring some of the activities of those close to the patient. The basic problems are the catalogue of collected data, the method and scope of storage, processing and sharing of this data, and the related doubts and threats as to the proper protection of the privacy of patients and their relatives. It is necessary not only to order and name those threats, but also to develop de lege ferenda regulations that will ensure effective use of artificial intelligence in this area, respecting the privacy of patients and their household members.

© 2022 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0)
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of KES International

Keywords: Artificial intelligence; Protection of privacy of a psychiatric patient; Right to protection of family life