Healthcare professionals may feel that their autonomy and authority is threatened if their expertise is challenged by AI.65 The ethical obligations of healthcare professionals towards individual patients might be affected by the use of AI decision support systems, given these might Bioethics briefing note: Artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare and research 5 be guided by other priorities or interests, such as cost efficiency or wider public health concerns.66As with many new technologies, the introduction of AI is likely to mean the skills and expertise required of healthcare professionals will change. In some areas, AI could enable automation of tasks that have previously been carried out by humans.2 This could free up health professionals to spend more time engaging directly with patients. However, there are concerns that the introduction of AI systems might be used to justify the employment of less skilled staff.67 This could be problematic if the technology fails and staff are not able to recognise errors or carry out necessary tasks without computer guidance. A related concern is that AI could make healthcare professionals complacent, and less likely to check results and challenge errors