Death-Awareness in Artificial Intelligence: Its Possibility Based on Heidegger's View and Its Importance in Medicine

With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine, a central debate has emerged regarding whether AI can replace physicians. While previous studies have examined AI’s limitations in areas such as self-awareness and language processing, this study explores a novel dimension: the possibility of death-awareness in AI and its implications for the physician-patient relationship. Death-awareness is fundamental to medical practice, allowing physicians to empathize with patients, acknowledge existential fears, and support autonomy in end-of-life decision-making. Using Heidegger’s concept of Dasein, this paper examines whether AI, through its evolving cognitive capabilities, can develop an authentic understanding of mortality.A phenomenological approach is applied to assess AI’s ability to experience being-towards-death (Sein-zum-Tode), a characteristic central to human authenticity. Heidegger argues that Dasein’s existence is shaped by its awareness of finitude, which fosters existential anxiety and authenticity. However, AI, lacking organic mortality and intrinsic self-awareness, does not experience the temporality and vulnerability that define Dasein. While AI demonstrates learning, adaptation, and responsiveness, its decision-making remains fundamentally preprogrammed and detached from existential meaning. Although recent advancements in neural networks, embodied AI, and reinforcement learning have allowed AI to engage with the world dynamically, it does not yet possess mood, fear, or the anticipation of its own non-existence—key components of Heideggerian authenticity.The study concludes that while AI may achieve functional competence in medicine, it lacks the ontological depth necessary for true humanistic care. Future discussions on AI in healthcare must go beyond performance metrics and consider the existential and ethical dimensions of AI-driven decision-making. If AI were ever to attain true death-awareness, it would challenge the very boundaries between human and machine, raising profound implications for medicine, ethics, and the philosophy of artificial intelligence.