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EU frameworks, including the EU AI Act, GDPR, and Medical Devices Regulation, provide only partial protection and leave regulatory gaps that this study evaluates.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/legal-ethical-and-policy-challenges-of-artificial-intelligence-translation-tools-in-healthcare/410652/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/legal-ethical-and-policy-challenges-of-artificial-intelligence-translation-tools-in-healthcare/410652.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Alex Sinclair","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-04","2026-09-28",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":52},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why are AI translation tools increasingly used in healthcare?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"They are accessible, fast, and free, helping patients and providers communicate despite language barriers. 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Discover Public Health (2025) 22:904 Discover Public Health  \n[https://doi.org/10.1186/s12982-025-01277-z](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12982-025-01277-z)  \nPERSPECTIVE Open Access  \nLegal, ethical, and policy challenges of artificial intelligence translation tools in healthcare  \nHannah van Kolfschooten 1,2*, Simone Goosen3,4, Janneke van Oirschot5,6, Barbara Schouten 1, Ildikó Vajda4 and Luna Willems 1  \n*Correspondence:  \nHannah van Kolfschooten  \nhannah.vankolfschooten@unibas. ch  \n1University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland  \n3Johannes Wier Foundation for Health and Human Rights, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 4Patiëntenfederatie Nederland, Utrecht, The Netherlands 5Health Action International, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 6Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands  \nAbstract  \nArtificial intelligence (AI) translation tools, such as Google Translate and ChatGPT, are increasingly used in healthcare for medical communication to overcome language barriers between patients and providers. While these tools offer accessible and efficient translation, their use raises significant legal, ethical, and policy concerns. Key patients’ rights, including the rights to privacy, informed consent, and equitable access to care, may be compromised. Current European regulations, including the EU AI Act, General Data Protection Regulation, and Medical Devices Regulation, offer only partial protection, leaving important regulatory gaps. This study employs a mixed-methods approach combining legal doctrinal analysis of EU regulatory frameworks with manual content analysis of platform terms of service. It integrates interdisciplinary perspectives from bioethics, digital health, and health communication to evaluate the implications of AI-mediated translation in clinical care. Findings reveal persistent and overlapping risks: violations of data privacy, inaccuracies in translation, bias and discrimination, and unclear liability when errors occur. To mitigate these risks, we propose targeted policy interventions, including developing guidelines for AI translation use in healthcare settings. This article contributes to digital health policy debates by identifying legal pathways to regulate AI translation tools in healthcare, ensuring their use supports patients’ rights and promotes health equity.  \nKeywords Artificial intelligence in healthcare, Medical translation tools, Language barriers, Patient rights, Health data privacy  \n1 Introduction  \nIn an increasingly globalized world, European healthcare professionals face significant challenges in communicating effectively with diverse patient populations [1]. Language barriers between healthcare professionals and patients can severely impact the accessibility and quality of care, patient safety, and overall health outcomes [2, 3]. Effective communication is crucial for understanding patients’ complaints, providing accurate and timely diagnoses, ensuring patients fully comprehend their treatment options, obtaining informed consent, and shared decision making [4]. When healthcare providers and patients do not share a common language, miscommunication can have serious  \n© The Author(s) 2026. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly f","cbCaik1Yx1jVoEz5","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaik1Yx1jVoEz5","pdf",1060984,16,"English","# Introduction\n## Communication challenges from language barriers\n## AI translation tools in clinical practice\n## Risks to patient rights and regulatory gaps","[{\"question\":\"Why are AI translation tools increasingly used in healthcare?\",\"answer\":\"They are accessible, fast, and free, helping patients and providers communicate despite language barriers. Evidence also shows growing use by both patients and healthcare professionals in clinical encounters.\"},{\"question\":\"What legal and ethical concerns are highlighted in the study?\",\"answer\":\"The study identifies risks to privacy, informed consent, and equitable access. It also points to data privacy violations, translation inaccuracies, bias and discrimination, and unclear liability when errors occur.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the article address regulatory shortcomings in Europe?\",\"answer\":\"It assesses EU regulatory frameworks (including the EU AI Act, GDPR, and Medical Devices Regulation) and finds only partial protection. It proposes targeted policy interventions, including guidelines for using AI translation tools in healthcare settings.\"}]","Legal, ethical, and policy challenges of artificial intelligence translation tools in healthcare | PDF",1790586011]