Ethical and Legal Implications of Artificial Intelligence in Infection Prevention and Control: A Saudi Arabian Perspective

Abstract

The growing integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) represents a transformative shift in healthcare enabling earlier outbreak detection, smarter surveillance, and enhanced patient safety. In Saudi Arabia, this evolution aligns with Vision 2030 and national initiatives led by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA). However, the rapid adoption of AI in clinical and public health settings raises pressing ethical and legal concerns, particularly regarding patient autonomy, data privacy, algorithmic bias, and accountability.This article critically examines these ethical-legal dimensions in the context of Saudi Arabia, focusing on informed consent, fairness, transparency, and the inviolability of patient confidentiality. Drawing on international frameworks and domestic legislation, especially the Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL), the paper evaluates the Kingdom’s regulatory preparedness. Special attention is given to unresolved challenges such as liability attribution and data sovereignty.The analysis is further enriched by principles from Islamic bioethics, including maslahah (public interest), adl (justice), and amanah (trust), along with insights from Saudi legal scholarship. The article concludes by proposing a culturally grounded ethical-legal framework to guide the deployment of AI in IPC, ensuring it is not only technologically effective but also ethically sound, socially legitimate, and legally robust.

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