[Only artificial intelligence can heal us? : Artificial intelligence in medicine as deus ex machina, grands recits nouveaux or supertool?].

Background: Modern medicine is becoming digital medicine. This is accompanied by a fundamental change in medicine and its professions and an altered relationship between the actors in the healthcare system. In particular, patients become the vital center again. Technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) play a crucial role that, however, from a normative perspective has to be questioned critically but benevolently, then every tool can be implemented for false purposes.

Methods: Philosophical reflections based on the ethical theoretical framework of Vittorio Hösle and own preparative work, thereby, in particular processing of the reflection dimensions of ethics in digital medicine.

Results: Ethics is necessary as the various initiatives on the macrolevel, mesolevel and microlevel are important as a first step but it has to go much further. The microlevel will ultimately become the game changer, patients will not want to relinquish health benefits in the long term and physicians and nursing personnel will not want to relinquish attractive working conditions.

Conclusion: Ethics is a demanding enterprise but necessary, especially in a highly complex and future-oriented field, such as digital medicine. Here it is utterly important to choose the third way between innovation xenophobia and over the top healing expectations (supertools), focusing on real personas with real responsibilities. The sustainable education if not enlightenment of patients and professional players is the key.