Qualis/CAPES  B1 (2021-2024) Google Scholar   Citations: 922   |   h‑index: 13   |   i10‑index: 25   |   h5‑index: 66   |   h5‑median: 8 Impact: CUIDEN 0.107 RIC est.  SJIF 3.138 (2021)
Algorithms versus autonomy: the erosion of bioethical foundations in the digital health landscape
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Keywords

Bioethics
Personal Autonomy
Digital Technology
Patient Safety
Professional-Patient Relations

How to Cite

1.
Monteiro VAFR, Probo LA, Furtado TR, Pinheiro Ícaro S de C, Silva RP da C, Veloso EK da C, Silva AS da, Silva FFM da, Carvalho MD de, Alves VR de C. Algorithms versus autonomy: the erosion of bioethical foundations in the digital health landscape . Glob Acad Nurs [Internet]. 2025 Dec. 20 [cited 2026 May 18];6(4):e527. Available from: https://globalacademicnursing.com/index.php/globacadnurs/article/view/655

Abstract

The digitalization of healthcare, while promising greater efficiency and personalization, introduces profound ethical tensions by operating under algorithmic logics that can subvert traditional bioethical principles. This theoretical reflection study aimed to analyze, considering critical bioethics and the philosophy of technology, how the architectures of digital platforms erode the principle of autonomy and challenge the care relationship in healthcare. Through an integrative critical literature review of the Medline, SciELO, and Google Scholar databases, it is argued that this erosion occurs in three interconnected dimensions: the redefinition of autonomy as algorithmic compatibility, the transformation of the therapeutic relationship by engagement metrics unrelated to care, and the colonization of the clinical space by the rationality of dataism. It concludes that this is a structural conflict (mismatch) between the relational ethics of clinical care and the instrumental ethics of platforms, requiring, as a response, a resilient ethical praxis in the field of health, based on critical literacy, advocacy for transparency, and the development of alternative technologies centered on the therapeutic values of the bond and patient safety.

https://doi.org/10.5935/2675-5602.20200527
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