Dusty‐Lee Donnelly

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About

Dusty-Lee Donnelly is a South African legal scholar whose research sits at the cutting edge of technology law, medical ethics, and artificial intelligence regulation. Her work focuses on the pressing legal challenges posed by AI systems and autonomous technologies within healthcare contexts, with particular attention to the South African legal landscape. Donnelly's most recognized contribution, "First Do No Harm: Legal Principles Regulating the Future of Artificial Intelligence in Health Care in South Africa," has garnered significant academic attention, accumulating over 25 citations since its 2022 publication. In this landmark work, she interrogates what fundamentally distinguishes AI and AI-powered medical robots from conventional medical technology — namely, their capacity for autonomous operation and machine-learning-driven analysis that can produce unforeseen clinical predictions. Donnelly argues that these unique characteristics demand carefully tailored legal frameworks to protect patients while enabling medical innovation. Her scholarship bridges the gap between rapidly evolving technological capabilities and the legal principles designed to safeguard human welfare, making her an important voice for students, policymakers, and researchers grappling with the ethical and regulatory dimensions of AI in medicine across emerging economies.