Clear ethical standards and guidance must be in place to protect the relationship of trust between doctors and patients and to safeguard human rights, according to a Council of Europe report today, written by Dr Brent Mittelstadt, an Oxford expert specialising in Artificial Intelligence and medical ethics. Dr Mittelstadt is Director of Research at the Oxford Internet Institute and a leading data ethicist. He says, 'I hope the report will make people think about how AI might disrupt the core practices involved in healthcare.' But he is concerned AI could be used as a way to reduce budgets or save costs rather than to improve patient care and says, 'If you're going to introduce new technology into the clinical space, you need to think about how that will be done. Too often it is seen solely as a cost-saving or efficiency exercise, and not one which can radically transform healthcare itself.'

Recently, my application for insurance for a classic car I'd bought was refused. It was a first for me and when I inquired why, I was told that the insurance company was concerned that I associate with'high-value individuals'. I don't, but even if I did, how could this possibly impact my access to insurance? The broker kindly investigated on my behalf and discovered that a robot -- or more accurately an'automated decision-making machine' -- used by the insurance company had scoured the internet and discovered that in the distant past I'd been the motoring editor of a national newspaper. I was no wiser as to why this might suddenly have made me a liability.