Defining AI liability: How AI could redefine the standard of care

David Simon, J.D., Ph.D., L.L.M., associate professor of law at Northeastern University, explains how artificial intelligence (AI) tools may gradually reshape what courts and clinicians recognize as the “standard of care.”

Simon notes that the shift won’t happen all at once — it will vary by specialty, technology type, and adoption rate. As AI becomes more pervasive, physicians may eventually face negligence questions not only for errors in use, but for failing to use AI at all.

Yet uneven access to costly technology adds another legal wrinkle: what happens when local resources limit adoption?

“The short answer,” Simon says, “is yes — AI probably will reshape the standard of care. But it’s going to happen gradually, in fits and starts.”