AI, medicine and the social sciences

Healthcare is an ideal field of application for devices based on Artificial Intelligence (AI). This introduction to the 'AI and Medicine' issue of Réseaux offers a social science perspective on the intersection of these two fields. Drawing on the presentation and discussion of the six articles making up this issue, as well as other works – mainly from sociology and from Science and Technology Studies (STS) –, several issues and questions are highlighted: the unfinished, imperfect and even counter-productive nature of the automation generated by AI devices in work situations; the need for a fresh decoding of the notion of 'explainability' in relation to design processes and actual uses, which may not comply with legal requirements; and the relative absence of patients in the emerging practices studied. The latter phenomenon is explained primarily by the fact that AI is used well beyond the framework of the clinical relationship, to equip various categories of professionals who are not directly involved in patient management and care.