Intersectionality has become a buzzword in the humanities, yet it often remains ill-defined or is... more Intersectionality has become a buzzword in the humanities, yet it often remains ill-defined or is used inconsistently depending on the subject area. On the one hand, intersectionality still needs refinement and lacks scientific acknowledgement. Particularly in German-speaking theological ethics, intersectionality has been little discussed. On the other hand, intersectionality seems to be so established, especially in the Anglo-American context, that the intersection of gender and race is far from questioned anymore. However, both stances overlook the inherent dimensions of intersectionality, failing to effectively tackle the challenges posed by algorithmic classification. These challenges stem from the ongoing creation of new intersections and the superimposition or obscuration of existing ones. However, intersectionality understood as a knowledge project promises to address the challenges effectively. Therefore, the paper identifies key dimensions of what constitutes intersectionality. First, intersectional theories aim to de-marginalize the intersection where discrimination and injustice occur. Second, intersectional theories identify the intersections as multiple, non-hierarchical, and dynamic entanglements. Third, intersectional theories are often misunderstood as identity politics. However, they function as a critique of power and the pursuit of justice. From these three dimensions of intersectional theories, the paper draws socio-ethical implications for algorithmic classification. The in-depth analysis shows that intersectional theory is able to expose the difficulties of using categories and classifiers as well as aggregating and disaggregating data in the context of Artificial Intelligence. The paper points out that the disaggregation of data and fine-grained analysis can only take place where political protection mechanisms ensure that individuals and groups are not harmed.
Plea, defence, utopia-solidarity has become a buzz word. New technologies and the associated nati... more Plea, defence, utopia-solidarity has become a buzz word. New technologies and the associated national and global networking through data, the challenge of political upheavals that affect social coexistence, the world of labor, access to education as well as family and identity politics, repeatedly raise the question of changing solidarity practices. They make it necessary to fill and define the concept of solidarity anew. The background to this anthology is therefore the question of solidarity practices in an increasingly digitalized, globally connected world that is repeatedly challenged by multiple crises. New connections as well as disruptions are emerging, particularly in the context of social networks, which include not only, but also, spaces within the digital sphere. The call for more solidarity has very different consequences, depending on the context. It quickly becomes clear that what is meant by solidarity and what consequences accompany the call for solidarity is by no means an undisputed universal. The different definitions in terms of extensionality, intensity, framework conditions, forms, goals and duration make it clear that solidarity is a broad field whose ambiguity sometimes carries the risk of instrumentalization (see Dabrock: 2022; and the contribution by Megan Arndt in this volume). Nevertheless, the concept of solidarity is a 'Sehnsuchtswort' (cf. Högg/Rung: 2019), a 'word of longing'. The term continues to be addressed anew, time and time again, particularly in the current German and European political debates on democracy and its foundations (cf. Lesch: 2019), which is increasingly under threat amid the questioning of the social constituent. Nationalist and radical right-wing parties are increasingly gaining ground in Europe and around the world. Their agendas consist of narrowing group affiliations. In the face of this challenge to democracy, work on the concept of solidarity is far from over. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has also played a formative role in the global debate on the concept of solidarity in recent years. It has once again shown the interconnectedness of human actions and bodies in a globalized world as well as their disruptions. The calls for solidarity in times of the pandemic showed that these calls had very different consequences. Often the concept of solidarity was understood asymmetrically in this context. It was linked to the question of 'who is (most) vulnerable?' when it came to determining whom solidarity is applied to.
Self-tracking-technologies can serve as a prominent example of how digital technologies put to te... more Self-tracking-technologies can serve as a prominent example of how digital technologies put to test established practices, institutions, and structures of medicine and healthcare. While proponents emphasize the potentials, e.g., for individualized healthcare and new research data, opponents stress the risk that these technologies will reinforce gender-related inequalities.
While this has been made clear from—often intersectional—feminist perspectives since the introduction of such technologies, we aim to provide a queer-feminist perspective on self-tracking applications in healthcare by analyzing three concrete cases. In this way, we want to show why such a perspective is helpful in assessing self-tracking technologies and how such a perspective might contribute to a queering of healthcare.
After a short introduction to self-tracking in healthcare and the corresponding risks of reproducing gender-related inequalities, we introduce queer bioethics as a methodology to examine structural discrimination and marginalization in bioethical research. We apply this framework in the analysis of three exemplary self-tracking applications from the areas of nutrition/fitness, reproductive health, and mental health. In the subsequent discussion of these results against the backdrop of already existing queer-sensitive technologies, we identify an equal access, a subversive design, an inclusive database, and a diversity-sensitive and discriminatory-critical definition of purposes as well as individualized usage possibilities as first possible starting points for a queering of self-tracking applications. Finally, we draw conclusions, how such a critical perspective on self-tracking applications might also contribute to a queering of the healthcare system at a structural level.
Since uncertainty is a major challenge in medicine and bears the risk of causing incorrect diagno... more Since uncertainty is a major challenge in medicine and bears the risk of causing incorrect diagnoses and harmful treatment, there are many efforts to tackle it. For some time, AI technologies have been increasingly implemented in medicine and used to reduce medical uncertainties. What initially seems desirable, however, poses challenges. We use a multimethod approach that combines philosophical inquiry, conceptual analysis, and ethical considerations to identify key challenges that arise when AI is used for medical certainty purposes. We identify several challenges. Where AI is used to reduce medical uncertainties, it is likely to result in (a) patients being stripped down to their measurable data points, and being made disambiguous. Additionally, the widespread use of AI technologies in health care bears the risk of (b) human physicians being pushed out of the medical decision-making process, and patient participation being more and more limited. Further, the successful use of AI requires extensive and invasive monitoring of patients, which raises (c) questions about surveillance as well as privacy and security issues. We outline these several challenges and show that they are immediate consequences of AI-driven security efforts. If not addressed, they could entail unfavorable consequences. We contend that diminishing medical uncertainties through AI involves a tradeoff. The advantages, including enhanced precision, personalization, and overall improvement in medicine, are accompanied by several novel challenges. This paper addresses them and gives suggestions about how to use AI for certainty purposes without causing harm to patients.
Harnessing the metaverse for medical and healthcare
purposes is currently heralded as the “next f... more Harnessing the metaverse for medical and healthcare purposes is currently heralded as the “next frontier in healthcare.” However, to ensure the “amazing possibilities” of the so-called “healthcare metaverse” can be fully realized, it’s vital to proactively identify and address potential challenges, especially those of an ethical nature. This paper aims to spotlight these ethical challenges within the healthcare metaverse and chart a course for confronting these issues and cultivating an ethics framework for this emerging field. We will demonstrate that the ethical quandaries within the healthcare metaverse bear striking similarities to those seen in digital medicine, an arena that grapples with vast quantities of data and the application of artificial intelligence. Reflecting on these parallels, we explore how six central ethical challenges in digital medicine – 1) accessibility, 2) fairness, 3) discrimination and bias, 4) responsibility, 5) privacy, data safety and security, and data ownership, as well as 6) environmental issues – unfold within the healthcare metaverse’s virtual boundaries and show that the metaverse’s immersive nature further intensifies these ethical challenges. In view of this, we advocate that the next phase in forging ethics for the healthcare metaverse involves a nuanced reconsideration of current ethical methods and principles in digital medicine, with an emphasis on the immersive element of the metaverse. We foresee the concept of embodiment within virtual settings to be at the heart of this immersion-focused reassessment.
This paper presents a social-theologically informed interpretation of the term integrity, as it o... more This paper presents a social-theologically informed interpretation of the term integrity, as it occurs in fundamental law. It explores the manifestations of integrity violations and proceeds to draw an inference: an integrity violation can directly emanate from a misconception regarding integrity itself, as well as the implementation of protective measures that follow it. Integrity in its wholeness dimension is understood as open-endedness and non-seclusion rather than as a substantial, clearly definable characteristic of a person. This openendedness and non-seclusion results from the relational constitution of an individual. Consequently, it follows that a violation of integrity occurs when the open-endedness and non-seclusion of a person and their relational Becoming is hindered. The new definition of integrity is particularly important when it comes to the governance of new health technologies, especially Digital Twins that can become representatives of a person. Human integrity is non-violated only when it is understood as open to relational Becoming and this Becoming shows its expression in the mutual enabling and support of self-articulation.
Background Palliative care is an integral part of health care, which in term has become increasin... more Background Palliative care is an integral part of health care, which in term has become increasingly technologized in recent decades. Lately, innovative smart sensors combined with artificial intelligence promise better diagnosis and treatment. But to date, it is unclear: how are palliative care concepts and their underlying assumptions about humans challenged by smart sensor technologies (SST) and how can care benefit from SST? Aims The paper aims to identify changes and challenges in palliative care due to the use of SST. In addition, normative guiding criteria for the use of SST are developed. Methods The principle of Total Care used by the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) forms the basis for the ethical analysis. Drawing on this, its underlying conceptions of the human and its socio-ethical aspects are examined with a phenomenological focus. In the second step, the advantages, limitations, and socio-ethical challenges of using SST with respect to the Total Care pr...
The use of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data in health care opens up new opportunities for the... more The use of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data in health care opens up new opportunities for the measurement of the human. Their application aims not only at gathering more and better data points but also at doing it less invasive. With this change in health care towards its extension to almost all areas of life and its increasing invisibility and opacity, new questions of transparency arise. While the complex human-machine interactions involved in deploying and using AI tend to become non-transparent, the use of these technologies makes the patient seemingly transparent. Papers on the ethical implementation of AI plead for transparency but neglect the factor of the “transparent patient” as intertwined with AI. Transparency in this regard appears to be Janus-faced: The precondition for receiving help - e.g., treatment advice regarding the own health - is to become transparent for the digitized health care system. That is, for instance, to donate data and become visible to the AI an...
Gemeinsamer Untersuchungsgegenstand aller Beitrage des Sammelbandes ist die asthetische Inszenier... more Gemeinsamer Untersuchungsgegenstand aller Beitrage des Sammelbandes ist die asthetische Inszenierung des Spiels mit Geschlecht entlang von zentralen Begrifflichkeiten wie Schwelle, Grenze und Fluiditat. Der Band geht auf eine Ringvorlesung der Universitat Koblenz zuruck, zu der Wissenschaftler:innen verschiedener Disziplinen zum gemeinsamen Nachdenken uber das Phanomen Transgender und Crossdressing eingeladen waren. Anne-Berenike Rothstein prasentiert in dem daraus hervorgegangenen Sammelband ein breites, chronologisch orientiertes Passepartout des bereits in die Antike zuruckreichenden Phanomenbereichs der Auflosung und Uberschreitung von Geschlechtergrenzen in Theater, Oper, Literatur, Film, bildenden Kunsten und Popkultur. Durch die den Beitragen zugrundeliegende, jeweils unterschiedliche Definition von Transgender und Crossdressing entsteht der Eindruck einer eklektischen Zusammenschau, in dem die Spannbreite eines kulturellen „Rereadings“ von Genderinszenierungen deutlich wird.
Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Bibliothek: Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet... more Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Bibliothek: Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über abrufbar.
Intersectionality has become a buzzword in the humanities, yet it often remains ill-defined or is... more Intersectionality has become a buzzword in the humanities, yet it often remains ill-defined or is used inconsistently depending on the subject area. On the one hand, intersectionality still needs refinement and lacks scientific acknowledgement. Particularly in German-speaking theological ethics, intersectionality has been little discussed. On the other hand, intersectionality seems to be so established, especially in the Anglo-American context, that the intersection of gender and race is far from questioned anymore. However, both stances overlook the inherent dimensions of intersectionality, failing to effectively tackle the challenges posed by algorithmic classification. These challenges stem from the ongoing creation of new intersections and the superimposition or obscuration of existing ones. However, intersectionality understood as a knowledge project promises to address the challenges effectively. Therefore, the paper identifies key dimensions of what constitutes intersectionality. First, intersectional theories aim to de-marginalize the intersection where discrimination and injustice occur. Second, intersectional theories identify the intersections as multiple, non-hierarchical, and dynamic entanglements. Third, intersectional theories are often misunderstood as identity politics. However, they function as a critique of power and the pursuit of justice. From these three dimensions of intersectional theories, the paper draws socio-ethical implications for algorithmic classification. The in-depth analysis shows that intersectional theory is able to expose the difficulties of using categories and classifiers as well as aggregating and disaggregating data in the context of Artificial Intelligence. The paper points out that the disaggregation of data and fine-grained analysis can only take place where political protection mechanisms ensure that individuals and groups are not harmed.
Plea, defence, utopia-solidarity has become a buzz word. New technologies and the associated nati... more Plea, defence, utopia-solidarity has become a buzz word. New technologies and the associated national and global networking through data, the challenge of political upheavals that affect social coexistence, the world of labor, access to education as well as family and identity politics, repeatedly raise the question of changing solidarity practices. They make it necessary to fill and define the concept of solidarity anew. The background to this anthology is therefore the question of solidarity practices in an increasingly digitalized, globally connected world that is repeatedly challenged by multiple crises. New connections as well as disruptions are emerging, particularly in the context of social networks, which include not only, but also, spaces within the digital sphere. The call for more solidarity has very different consequences, depending on the context. It quickly becomes clear that what is meant by solidarity and what consequences accompany the call for solidarity is by no means an undisputed universal. The different definitions in terms of extensionality, intensity, framework conditions, forms, goals and duration make it clear that solidarity is a broad field whose ambiguity sometimes carries the risk of instrumentalization (see Dabrock: 2022; and the contribution by Megan Arndt in this volume). Nevertheless, the concept of solidarity is a 'Sehnsuchtswort' (cf. Högg/Rung: 2019), a 'word of longing'. The term continues to be addressed anew, time and time again, particularly in the current German and European political debates on democracy and its foundations (cf. Lesch: 2019), which is increasingly under threat amid the questioning of the social constituent. Nationalist and radical right-wing parties are increasingly gaining ground in Europe and around the world. Their agendas consist of narrowing group affiliations. In the face of this challenge to democracy, work on the concept of solidarity is far from over. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has also played a formative role in the global debate on the concept of solidarity in recent years. It has once again shown the interconnectedness of human actions and bodies in a globalized world as well as their disruptions. The calls for solidarity in times of the pandemic showed that these calls had very different consequences. Often the concept of solidarity was understood asymmetrically in this context. It was linked to the question of 'who is (most) vulnerable?' when it came to determining whom solidarity is applied to.
Self-tracking-technologies can serve as a prominent example of how digital technologies put to te... more Self-tracking-technologies can serve as a prominent example of how digital technologies put to test established practices, institutions, and structures of medicine and healthcare. While proponents emphasize the potentials, e.g., for individualized healthcare and new research data, opponents stress the risk that these technologies will reinforce gender-related inequalities.
While this has been made clear from—often intersectional—feminist perspectives since the introduction of such technologies, we aim to provide a queer-feminist perspective on self-tracking applications in healthcare by analyzing three concrete cases. In this way, we want to show why such a perspective is helpful in assessing self-tracking technologies and how such a perspective might contribute to a queering of healthcare.
After a short introduction to self-tracking in healthcare and the corresponding risks of reproducing gender-related inequalities, we introduce queer bioethics as a methodology to examine structural discrimination and marginalization in bioethical research. We apply this framework in the analysis of three exemplary self-tracking applications from the areas of nutrition/fitness, reproductive health, and mental health. In the subsequent discussion of these results against the backdrop of already existing queer-sensitive technologies, we identify an equal access, a subversive design, an inclusive database, and a diversity-sensitive and discriminatory-critical definition of purposes as well as individualized usage possibilities as first possible starting points for a queering of self-tracking applications. Finally, we draw conclusions, how such a critical perspective on self-tracking applications might also contribute to a queering of the healthcare system at a structural level.
Since uncertainty is a major challenge in medicine and bears the risk of causing incorrect diagno... more Since uncertainty is a major challenge in medicine and bears the risk of causing incorrect diagnoses and harmful treatment, there are many efforts to tackle it. For some time, AI technologies have been increasingly implemented in medicine and used to reduce medical uncertainties. What initially seems desirable, however, poses challenges. We use a multimethod approach that combines philosophical inquiry, conceptual analysis, and ethical considerations to identify key challenges that arise when AI is used for medical certainty purposes. We identify several challenges. Where AI is used to reduce medical uncertainties, it is likely to result in (a) patients being stripped down to their measurable data points, and being made disambiguous. Additionally, the widespread use of AI technologies in health care bears the risk of (b) human physicians being pushed out of the medical decision-making process, and patient participation being more and more limited. Further, the successful use of AI requires extensive and invasive monitoring of patients, which raises (c) questions about surveillance as well as privacy and security issues. We outline these several challenges and show that they are immediate consequences of AI-driven security efforts. If not addressed, they could entail unfavorable consequences. We contend that diminishing medical uncertainties through AI involves a tradeoff. The advantages, including enhanced precision, personalization, and overall improvement in medicine, are accompanied by several novel challenges. This paper addresses them and gives suggestions about how to use AI for certainty purposes without causing harm to patients.
Harnessing the metaverse for medical and healthcare
purposes is currently heralded as the “next f... more Harnessing the metaverse for medical and healthcare purposes is currently heralded as the “next frontier in healthcare.” However, to ensure the “amazing possibilities” of the so-called “healthcare metaverse” can be fully realized, it’s vital to proactively identify and address potential challenges, especially those of an ethical nature. This paper aims to spotlight these ethical challenges within the healthcare metaverse and chart a course for confronting these issues and cultivating an ethics framework for this emerging field. We will demonstrate that the ethical quandaries within the healthcare metaverse bear striking similarities to those seen in digital medicine, an arena that grapples with vast quantities of data and the application of artificial intelligence. Reflecting on these parallels, we explore how six central ethical challenges in digital medicine – 1) accessibility, 2) fairness, 3) discrimination and bias, 4) responsibility, 5) privacy, data safety and security, and data ownership, as well as 6) environmental issues – unfold within the healthcare metaverse’s virtual boundaries and show that the metaverse’s immersive nature further intensifies these ethical challenges. In view of this, we advocate that the next phase in forging ethics for the healthcare metaverse involves a nuanced reconsideration of current ethical methods and principles in digital medicine, with an emphasis on the immersive element of the metaverse. We foresee the concept of embodiment within virtual settings to be at the heart of this immersion-focused reassessment.
This paper presents a social-theologically informed interpretation of the term integrity, as it o... more This paper presents a social-theologically informed interpretation of the term integrity, as it occurs in fundamental law. It explores the manifestations of integrity violations and proceeds to draw an inference: an integrity violation can directly emanate from a misconception regarding integrity itself, as well as the implementation of protective measures that follow it. Integrity in its wholeness dimension is understood as open-endedness and non-seclusion rather than as a substantial, clearly definable characteristic of a person. This openendedness and non-seclusion results from the relational constitution of an individual. Consequently, it follows that a violation of integrity occurs when the open-endedness and non-seclusion of a person and their relational Becoming is hindered. The new definition of integrity is particularly important when it comes to the governance of new health technologies, especially Digital Twins that can become representatives of a person. Human integrity is non-violated only when it is understood as open to relational Becoming and this Becoming shows its expression in the mutual enabling and support of self-articulation.
Background Palliative care is an integral part of health care, which in term has become increasin... more Background Palliative care is an integral part of health care, which in term has become increasingly technologized in recent decades. Lately, innovative smart sensors combined with artificial intelligence promise better diagnosis and treatment. But to date, it is unclear: how are palliative care concepts and their underlying assumptions about humans challenged by smart sensor technologies (SST) and how can care benefit from SST? Aims The paper aims to identify changes and challenges in palliative care due to the use of SST. In addition, normative guiding criteria for the use of SST are developed. Methods The principle of Total Care used by the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) forms the basis for the ethical analysis. Drawing on this, its underlying conceptions of the human and its socio-ethical aspects are examined with a phenomenological focus. In the second step, the advantages, limitations, and socio-ethical challenges of using SST with respect to the Total Care pr...
The use of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data in health care opens up new opportunities for the... more The use of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data in health care opens up new opportunities for the measurement of the human. Their application aims not only at gathering more and better data points but also at doing it less invasive. With this change in health care towards its extension to almost all areas of life and its increasing invisibility and opacity, new questions of transparency arise. While the complex human-machine interactions involved in deploying and using AI tend to become non-transparent, the use of these technologies makes the patient seemingly transparent. Papers on the ethical implementation of AI plead for transparency but neglect the factor of the “transparent patient” as intertwined with AI. Transparency in this regard appears to be Janus-faced: The precondition for receiving help - e.g., treatment advice regarding the own health - is to become transparent for the digitized health care system. That is, for instance, to donate data and become visible to the AI an...
Gemeinsamer Untersuchungsgegenstand aller Beitrage des Sammelbandes ist die asthetische Inszenier... more Gemeinsamer Untersuchungsgegenstand aller Beitrage des Sammelbandes ist die asthetische Inszenierung des Spiels mit Geschlecht entlang von zentralen Begrifflichkeiten wie Schwelle, Grenze und Fluiditat. Der Band geht auf eine Ringvorlesung der Universitat Koblenz zuruck, zu der Wissenschaftler:innen verschiedener Disziplinen zum gemeinsamen Nachdenken uber das Phanomen Transgender und Crossdressing eingeladen waren. Anne-Berenike Rothstein prasentiert in dem daraus hervorgegangenen Sammelband ein breites, chronologisch orientiertes Passepartout des bereits in die Antike zuruckreichenden Phanomenbereichs der Auflosung und Uberschreitung von Geschlechtergrenzen in Theater, Oper, Literatur, Film, bildenden Kunsten und Popkultur. Durch die den Beitragen zugrundeliegende, jeweils unterschiedliche Definition von Transgender und Crossdressing entsteht der Eindruck einer eklektischen Zusammenschau, in dem die Spannbreite eines kulturellen „Rereadings“ von Genderinszenierungen deutlich wird.
Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Bibliothek: Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet... more Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Bibliothek: Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über abrufbar.
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Papers by Tabea Ott
While this has been made clear from—often intersectional—feminist perspectives since the introduction of such technologies, we aim to provide a queer-feminist perspective on self-tracking applications in healthcare by analyzing three concrete cases. In this way, we want to show why such a perspective is helpful in assessing self-tracking technologies and how such a perspective might contribute to a queering of healthcare.
After a short introduction to self-tracking in healthcare and the corresponding risks of reproducing gender-related inequalities, we introduce queer bioethics as a methodology to examine structural discrimination and marginalization in bioethical research. We apply this framework in the analysis of three exemplary self-tracking applications from the areas of nutrition/fitness, reproductive health, and mental health. In the subsequent discussion of these results against the backdrop of already existing queer-sensitive technologies, we identify an equal access, a subversive design, an inclusive database, and a diversity-sensitive and discriminatory-critical definition of purposes as well as individualized usage possibilities as first possible starting points for a queering of self-tracking applications. Finally, we draw conclusions, how such a critical perspective on self-tracking applications might also contribute to a queering of the healthcare system at a structural level.
purposes is currently heralded as the “next frontier in
healthcare.” However, to ensure the “amazing possibilities” of
the so-called “healthcare metaverse” can be fully realized, it’s
vital to proactively identify and address potential challenges,
especially those of an ethical nature. This paper aims to spotlight
these ethical challenges within the healthcare metaverse and
chart a course for confronting these issues and cultivating an
ethics framework for this emerging field. We will demonstrate
that the ethical quandaries within the healthcare metaverse bear
striking similarities to those seen in digital medicine, an arena
that grapples with vast quantities of data and the application of
artificial intelligence. Reflecting on these parallels, we explore
how six central ethical challenges in digital medicine – 1)
accessibility, 2) fairness, 3) discrimination and bias, 4)
responsibility, 5) privacy, data safety and security, and data
ownership, as well as 6) environmental issues – unfold within the
healthcare metaverse’s virtual boundaries and show that the
metaverse’s immersive nature further intensifies these ethical
challenges. In view of this, we advocate that the next phase in
forging ethics for the healthcare metaverse involves a nuanced
reconsideration of current ethical methods and principles in
digital medicine, with an emphasis on the immersive element of
the metaverse. We foresee the concept of embodiment within
virtual settings to be at the heart of this immersion-focused
reassessment.
Books by Tabea Ott
While this has been made clear from—often intersectional—feminist perspectives since the introduction of such technologies, we aim to provide a queer-feminist perspective on self-tracking applications in healthcare by analyzing three concrete cases. In this way, we want to show why such a perspective is helpful in assessing self-tracking technologies and how such a perspective might contribute to a queering of healthcare.
After a short introduction to self-tracking in healthcare and the corresponding risks of reproducing gender-related inequalities, we introduce queer bioethics as a methodology to examine structural discrimination and marginalization in bioethical research. We apply this framework in the analysis of three exemplary self-tracking applications from the areas of nutrition/fitness, reproductive health, and mental health. In the subsequent discussion of these results against the backdrop of already existing queer-sensitive technologies, we identify an equal access, a subversive design, an inclusive database, and a diversity-sensitive and discriminatory-critical definition of purposes as well as individualized usage possibilities as first possible starting points for a queering of self-tracking applications. Finally, we draw conclusions, how such a critical perspective on self-tracking applications might also contribute to a queering of the healthcare system at a structural level.
purposes is currently heralded as the “next frontier in
healthcare.” However, to ensure the “amazing possibilities” of
the so-called “healthcare metaverse” can be fully realized, it’s
vital to proactively identify and address potential challenges,
especially those of an ethical nature. This paper aims to spotlight
these ethical challenges within the healthcare metaverse and
chart a course for confronting these issues and cultivating an
ethics framework for this emerging field. We will demonstrate
that the ethical quandaries within the healthcare metaverse bear
striking similarities to those seen in digital medicine, an arena
that grapples with vast quantities of data and the application of
artificial intelligence. Reflecting on these parallels, we explore
how six central ethical challenges in digital medicine – 1)
accessibility, 2) fairness, 3) discrimination and bias, 4)
responsibility, 5) privacy, data safety and security, and data
ownership, as well as 6) environmental issues – unfold within the
healthcare metaverse’s virtual boundaries and show that the
metaverse’s immersive nature further intensifies these ethical
challenges. In view of this, we advocate that the next phase in
forging ethics for the healthcare metaverse involves a nuanced
reconsideration of current ethical methods and principles in
digital medicine, with an emphasis on the immersive element of
the metaverse. We foresee the concept of embodiment within
virtual settings to be at the heart of this immersion-focused
reassessment.