A caregiver uses a diagnostic aid tool based on artificial intelligence. The software suggests a protocol, but the practitioner doubts its relevance for this specific patient. Two frameworks then come into tension: the formal rules of their profession and their personal reflection on what is right. This situation illustrates the difference between ethics and deontology, two concepts often confused even though they operate at different levels.
Medical Deontology and Artificial Intelligence: A Concrete Area of Friction
Since decree no. 2026-691 of July 27, 2026, the French Code of Medical Deontology includes a new article R4127-13-1. This text requires doctors using digital tools or artificial intelligence to take precautions to ensure the safety, quality of care, and confidentiality of data.
This touches on the core of deontology: a set of written rules imposed by a professional order, with sanctions in case of violations. The doctor has no choice but to comply. The same decree also modifies article R4127-1, which now requires a sworn and written commitment at the time of registration with the Order.
Deontology is no longer an implicit framework. It is a formal commitment that conditions the practice of the profession. To delve deeper into this topic, a detailed article explains the difference between ethics and deontology.
Ethics and Deontology: What Separates Them in Practice
In real situations, the confusion between the two concepts creates misunderstandings. Ethics is invoked when one is actually talking about codified rules, or vice versa. Here is what distinguishes them concretely.
Deontology Sets a Framework, Ethics Poses a Question
Deontology encompasses norms formalized in a code, adopted by a profession or organization. They apply uniformly to all members. A lawyer, a doctor, a journalist: each has a written reference that delineates what is permitted, prohibited, or mandatory.
Ethics involves personal reflection on the values and principles that guide action. It is not merely about applying a rule. It questions what is right in a given situation, including when the deontological rule does not cover the scenario.
Three Levels of Norms Not to Confuse
There is a useful gradation to keep in mind:
- The legal norm is imposed by law and applies to everyone. It is enforced by the courts.
- The deontological rule is imposed by an order or professional body. The sanction is disciplinary (warning, suspension, expulsion).
- The ethical value pertains to personal principles. It does not entail formal sanctions, but it guides decisions in gray areas.
When these three levels are confused, one risks either rigidifying a questioning that requires nuance or relativizing an obligation that is non-negotiable.
When Deontology Is Not Enough: The Role of Ethical Reflection
A code of deontology covers predictable situations. It sets clear guidelines for respecting professional secrecy, client relationships, and conflicts of interest. However, it cannot anticipate all configurations.
Consider the case of a social worker confronted with a family in an irregular situation. Deontology requires them to respect the dignity and rights of the individuals they assist. The law imposes certain reporting obligations. Between the two, it is ethical reflection that allows for arbitration without betraying either the legal framework or the values of the profession.
Feedback on this point varies according to professional contexts, but a constant observation is that practitioners who clearly distinguish between ethics and deontology make more coherent decisions in ambiguous situations.
Ethics as a Decision-Making Tool, Not a Posture
Sometimes ethics is reduced to a statement of intent, a preamble to a charter that is never revisited. In practice, it functions differently. It requires:
- Identifying the conflicting values in a given situation (confidentiality versus protection, autonomy versus security).
- Examining the foreseeable consequences of each option, not just their compliance with regulations.
- Assuming the decision made, knowing that it will not satisfy all the principles at play.
This process is not spontaneous. It is acquired through training and the practice of collective deliberation, particularly in ethical or deontological committees that some organizations establish.
Daily Application: Ethics and Deontology in Evaluation Professions
Regulated professions are not the only ones concerned. In the field of public policy evaluation, there is no professional order or national council. The absence of a regulatory authority makes ethical and deontological issues even more central.
Without a disciplinary framework, the credibility of an evaluator relies entirely on their ability to make their methods, limitations, and potential conflicts of interest transparent. Here we find concrete tools: ethical charters, mediation protocols, contractual provisions including feedback clauses, ethical referral processes.
Deontology is thus constructed from the ground up, through voluntary commitments rather than an imposed code. Ethics, on the other hand, comes into play whenever an evaluator must arbitrate between the demands of their funder and the integrity of their conclusions.
Distinguishing Ethics and Deontology: A Professional Reflex to Cultivate
Confusing these two concepts deprives one of a decision-making lever. Deontology states what must be done, ethics helps decide what can be done when the rule does not provide a clear answer.
In a context where digital tools and artificial intelligence create unprecedented situations (as shown by the July 2026 decree on medical deontology), this distinction becomes an operational reflex. Professionals who master it are not better protected by the texts, but they know how to navigate better when the texts fall short.