AI, Ethics, and Pharma Piracy: Challenging Corporate Monopolies of Biomedical Innovation in Annalee Newitz’s Autonomous
AI, Ethics, and Pharma Piracy: Challenging Corporate Monopolies of Biomedical Innovation in Annalee Newitz’s Autonomous

Summary/Abstract: Set in a far-off dystopian future ruled by biotech and AI, Annalee Newitz’s Autonomous (2017) tackles the moral complexities of using artificial intelligence in biomedicine. Drawing on theoretical concepts and frameworks that include Immanuel Kant’s ‘categorical imperative,’ Beauchamp and Childress’ ‘principlism,’ and Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum's ‘capabilities approach,’ the article evaluates the moral issues that emerge by using AI in the realm of biomedicine. The analysis that focuses on the way in which the fictional biobot Med uses drug piracy raises intriguing questions on the applicability of traditional ethics to cutting edge technologies.

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