AI Code of Conduct
Foreword
“We improve health and healthcare by providing the key information at the right time and in the right place”: This mission statement describes how Thieme, as a digital healthcare provider, aims to fulfill its central goal: shaping medicine and care processes such that they continually develop and improve for people's benefit.
Our solutions support the acquisition of knowledge and the development of skills in medical and scientific contexts. They support good data-based decisions and enable transparent processes for information, communication, and documentation. Our focus is always on people, their wishes and needs, and their autonomy and dignity.
Responsibly deployed artificial intelligence can help us fulfill our mission better than ever before. To this end, Thieme applies principles that reflect the family-owned company's high standards of content and ethical quality, safety, and innovation as well as comply with legal requirements.
Technology in transformation
It is hard to predict how artificial intelligence will develop in the future or what opportunities and risks this will bring for society. That is why we are committed to constantly reviewing and refining our principles – in close collaboration with our partners, customers, users, and industry experts. This ensures that our AI-based solutions remain human-centered, innovative, and effective.
Human autonomy
Artificial intelligence is neither an end in itself, nor should it be allowed to escape human influence and control. It can help automate processes. It should provide targeted support in the acquisition of knowledge and skills and enable better decisions based on relevant, reliable information – without restricting the individual decision-making freedom of users. It is the responsibility of both developers and users to check the content suggested by AI for plausibility and validity. At Thieme, we develop AI in a way that empowers and supports people.
Harm prevention
AI systems must not have any negative impact on people, other living beings, or the environment. To this end, we develop and use AI technologies within a risk-based framework that focuses on safety, technical robustness, and protection against misuse.
Diversity and fairness
Everyone should be able to benefit equally and reliably from the advantages of artificial intelligence – regardless of gender, gender identity, religion, origin and nationality, age, social or economic status, level of education, sexual orientation, language, marital status, impairment, appearance, or role in the company, and regardless of experience and perspectives. We review our data, models, and processes to ensure that they do not unintentionally disadvantage individual groups. With diverse, interdisciplinary teams, we work intensively to find fair solutions without bias or discrimination that could potentially arise from an unbalanced data set or error-prone algorithms.
Responsibility and accountability
The use of AI in scientific and medical contexts requires clear responsibilities and transparent decision-making processes. Guidelines and control mechanisms ensure that AI is used responsibly at Thieme, in compliance with the law and in accordance with our ethical principles. This ensures that the basis on which information is generated can be traced.
Explainability and transparency
We design our solutions in such a way that experts, users, and other affected parties can comprehend that AI-generated content has been utilized or that automated decisions have been made. We communicate openly about the possibilities and limitations of our systems.
Data protection and privacy
Protecting privacy and handling sensitive and confidential information responsibly goes without saying. We treat data with the utmost care, regardless of whether AI is used. Strict security guidelines, internationally applicable standards, and standardized processes ensure secure and ethically acceptable data use in accordance with applicable law and our own high standards.