The Leviathan-like Concerns and Reflections on Medical Digital Twin Technology

Through medical digital twin technology, physicians can construct a digital replica of a patient and design optimal treatment plans accordingly. As this technology relies on the collection of bodily data, patients are required to relinquish their data rights, potentially giving rise to a new Leviathan. To delve into this issue, it is essential to examine the foundational origin of the Leviathan: self-preservation. Driven by self-preservation, individuals transfer natural rights to a supreme Leviathan authority. However, the concentration of power may lead to autocracy and threaten self-preservation itself. Medical digital twin technology enables comprehensive patient monitoring and covert discipline, potentially resulting in data centralization and biopolitical governance. The emerging Leviathan may bring multiple consequences. This paper proposes three solution strategies: Regulating the boundaries of rights transfer; Implementing dynamic informed consent mechanism; Establishing a system of checks and balances over medical authority.