Front-End Ethics for Sensor-Fused Health Conversational Agents: An Ethical Design Space for Biometrics
On the map: LLM agents and tool use → General LLM agent frameworks and benchmarks
Abstract (arXiv)
The integration of continuous data from built-in sensors and Large Language Models (LLMs) has fueled a surge of "Sensor-Fused LLM agents" for personal health and well-being support. While recent breakthroughs have demonstrated the technical feasibility of this fusion (e.g., Time-LLM, SensorLLM), research primarily focuses on "Ethical Back-End Design for Generative AI", concerns such as sensing accuracy, bias mitigation in training data, and multimodal fusion. This leaves a critical gap at the front end, where invisible biometrics are translated into language directly experienced by users. We argue that the "illusion of objectivity" provided by sensor data amplifies the risks of AI hallucinations, potentially turning errors into harmful medical mandates. This paper shifts the focus to "Ethical Front-End Design for AI", specifically, the ethics of biometric translation. We propose a design space comprising five dimensions: Biometric Disclosure, Monitoring Temporality, Interpretation Framing, AI Stance, and Contestability. We examine how these dimensions interact with context (user- vs. system-initiated) and identify the risk of biofeedback loops. Finally, we propose "Adaptive Disclosure" as a safety guardrail and offer design guidelines to help developers manage fallibility, ensuring that these cutting-edge health agents support, rather than destabilize, user autonomy.
Key facts. No citing papers in the map yet (data through 7 Oct 2026). Placed in General LLM agent frameworks and benchmarks, one of 16 directions in LLM agents and tool use. Builds on 6 of its 27 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 14 Mar 2026.
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6 of 27 references.
References · 6
- 2022Large Language Models Encode Clinical Knowledgecited by 1,807
- 2021Ethical and social risks of harm from Language Modelscited by 957
- 2020Questioning the AI: Informing Design Practices for Explainable AI User Experiencescited by 251
- 2020Principles to Practices for Responsible AI: Closing the Gapcited by 25
- 2024Predicting User Behavior in Smart Spaces with LLM-Enhanced Logs and Personalized Promptscited by 5
- 2025Using LLMs for Late Multimodal Sensor Fusion for Activity Recognitioncited by 5
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- 2025Advancing Responsible Innovation in Agentic AI: A study of Ethical Frameworks for Household Automation
- 2024Transforming Wearable Data into Personal Health Insights using Large Language Model Agents