Paper Type
ERF
Abstract
The integration of autonomous AI agents into clinical workflows is transforming healthcare from individual clinician decision-making into a complex ecosystem of human–AI co‑agency, fundamentally destabilizing traditional frameworks of responsibility and control. However, existing literature remains bifurcated between viewing AI as a deterministic tool or autonomous agent, offering limited guidance for understanding the relational nature of co-agency in practice. This emergent research forum paper proposes a qualitative, interpretive multiple-case study across Ghanaian healthcare institutions to theorize how human–AI co‑agency is enacted in clinical decision-making. Drawing on socio-technical systems theory, human agency configurations, and healthcare AI accountability literature, the study will examine how decision authority is delegated, shared, overridden, and reclaimed in everyday practice. The primary theoretical contribution is a process model of accountable co‑agency and a typology of agency configurations, extending socio-technical theory to account for fluid, relational control distribution and providing a foundation for adaptive governance frameworks in AI-enabled healthcare.
Paper Number
1379
Recommended Citation
Bankuoru Egala, Sulemana; Afful-Dadzie, Eric; and Boateng, Dorcas, "Human–AI Co‑Agency in Clinical Decision-Making: Rethinking Responsibility and Control in Healthcare Ecosystems" (2026). AMCIS 2026 Proceedings. 2.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2026/ai_aiaa/ai_aiaa/2
Human–AI Co‑Agency in Clinical Decision-Making: Rethinking Responsibility and Control in Healthcare Ecosystems
The integration of autonomous AI agents into clinical workflows is transforming healthcare from individual clinician decision-making into a complex ecosystem of human–AI co‑agency, fundamentally destabilizing traditional frameworks of responsibility and control. However, existing literature remains bifurcated between viewing AI as a deterministic tool or autonomous agent, offering limited guidance for understanding the relational nature of co-agency in practice. This emergent research forum paper proposes a qualitative, interpretive multiple-case study across Ghanaian healthcare institutions to theorize how human–AI co‑agency is enacted in clinical decision-making. Drawing on socio-technical systems theory, human agency configurations, and healthcare AI accountability literature, the study will examine how decision authority is delegated, shared, overridden, and reclaimed in everyday practice. The primary theoretical contribution is a process model of accountable co‑agency and a typology of agency configurations, extending socio-technical theory to account for fluid, relational control distribution and providing a foundation for adaptive governance frameworks in AI-enabled healthcare.
When commenting on articles, please be friendly, welcoming, respectful and abide by the AIS eLibrary Discussion Thread Code of Conduct posted here.
Comments
SIG AIAA