The application of artificial intelligence in the context of person-centred care – a discourse on pitfalls and possibilities

Recently, there has been a rise in literature about Artificial Intelligence (AI) in nursing, outlining often positive implications for nursing practice. However, questions remain regarding the compatibility of AI with the fundamental values of nursing care, particularly given the current state and rapid development of AI. In this paper, AI is used as an umbrella term for algorithms that calculate probabilities, by identifying patterns in large data sets, where individual data points have little relevance. This contrasts sharply with nursing, where a person is highly relevant, even more when following a person-centred approach. In this paper, we discuss the conditions under which AI can be used to support person-centred nursing practice, and potentially relevant pitfalls. The paper focuses on the values of person-centred nursing and examines the application of AI in nursing and emphasizes nurses’ ethical values, reflexivity, and ability to advocate for their patients. We argue that AI can support person-centred care in meaningful ways, provided that its use is guided by a critical awareness of its limitations and value implications. We conclude that the development of an advanced, person-centred value-based AI literacy among nurses and healthcare decision-makers is essential to cultivates person-centred practices. Such literacy integrates technical understanding with person-centred values and supports the cultivation of reflective, ethically grounded and person-centred nursing practices. We suggest that nurses equipped with advanced AI literacy, based on and enriched by person-centred values, will be enabled through expanded professional competence to effectively preserve person-centred processes and outcomes when integrating AI tools. Additionally, the balance between integrating evolving technologies and upholding the values of person-centredness requires constant and critical debate within the profession and at a philosophical level.