Beyond the looking glass: Navigating ethical questions in Generative AI use for medical education pedagogy
Objective
Explore ethical questions of utilizing generative AI in medical education pedagogy.
Background
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) presents significant opportunities to enhance teaching methods and learning experiences in medical education (ME). However, ensuring content accuracy, addressing biases and ethical concerns on confidentiality, privacy, and the responsible use of GenAI tools poses challenges.
Method
A live online 5-hour experiential learning workshop to leverage GenAI in ME pedagogy was implemented in summer 2024. ME faculty (n=10) from various disciplines actively experimented with several GenAI tools for various pedagogical strategies. After each experimentation, faculty engaged in reflective observations and discussions on intended use and ethical considerations around this use.
Results
There is a heightened awareness of ethical considerations of GenAI use among the ME faculty. Faculty highlighted several challenges in responsible use of GenAI tools such as lack of transparency of GenAI models, lack of policies and guidelines, proactively addressing academic dishonesty in ME, and the reliability of GenAI detection tools.
Conclusion
The workshop provided an opportunity for faculty to engage with ethical complexities surrounding GenAI tools within and beyond the pedagogical practices they experimented with. They recognized the need of developing institutional policies, ethical guidelines and good practices to safeguard academic integrity while adapting to the evolving GenAI landscape in ME. We urge educators and policymakers to engage in sustained dialogue to develop comprehensive policies, and establish a robust framework to support the ethical integration of GenAI in ME.
