Digital Defense Toolkit: Protecting Ourselves from Artificial Intelligence-Related Harms

Adoption and integration of artificial intelligence (AI) is on the rise, present in almost every aspect of public life and clinical care. Whether care workers embrace AI or not, they are increasingly impacted by these technologies, as is the very nature of care work. While the integration and use of some forms of AI may improve care quality and outcomes, AI use can also cause harm. As with any tool used in care work, adverse impacts of AI must be recognized, addressed, and to the greatest extent possible, prevented. Where possible, harm inflicted through the use of AI tools in care work and on care workers must also be repaired. Care workers, including nurses, have a social contract to support the health and healing of the persons they accompany in care, including each other. ‘Digital defense’ represents efforts to prevent, protect, and heal from harms associated with technologies that incorporate big data and artificial intelligence. Here I present an adapted framework for understanding relationships between care workers’ collective well-being and documented harms of AI. I then propose a series of digital defense tactics and collective action strategies care workers can use to protect each other and heal from potential and actual adverse consequences of AI in healthcare.