Many have voiced their excitement and reservations about AI and where it may lead mankind: a new age of discovery but also the potential for machines taking over and running amok, i.e., the Terminator scenario. Because of the breadth of possibilities that AI represents—including for the health sector—the federal government has published new important guidelines concerning the use of this new-age technology.
An Ambitious Strategy
On January 10, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued its “Strategic Plan for the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Health, Human Services, and Public Health” (hereinafter, the Plan). The Plan establishes both the “strategic framework and operational roadmap for responsibly leveraging emerging technologies to enhance HHS's core mission, while maintaining our commitment to safety, effectiveness, equity, and access.” Additionally, the Plan outlines the ways in which HHS will try to deliver on its goal of being a global leader in innovating and adopting responsible AI that “achieves unparalleled advances in the health and well-being of all Americans.”
Here’s what Deputy Secretary of HHS Andrea Palm had to say about the Plan:
At HHS, we are optimistic about the transformational potential of AI. These technologies hold unparalleled ability to drive innovation through accelerating scientific breakthroughs, improving medical product safety and effectiveness, improving health outcomes through care delivery, increasing access to human services, and optimizing public health. However, our optimism is tempered with a deep sense of responsibility. We need to ensure that Americans are safeguarded from risks. Deployment and adoption of AI should benefit the American people, and we must hold stakeholders across the ecosystem accountable to achieve this goal.
Particulars of the Plan
The Plan outlines four key goals the department intends to pursue in its strategy to successfully incorporate AI. They are as follows:
- Catalyze health AI innovation and adoption to unlock new ways to use AI to improve people’s lives;
- Promote trustworthy AI development and ethical and responsible use to avoid potential harm;
- Democratize AI technologies and resources to promote equitable access for all; and
- Cultivate AI-empowered workforces and organizational cultures to allow staff to make the best use of AI.
As AI rapidly evolves in the coming months and years, HHS says it will adopt a dynamic approach to stay ahead of developments while addressing emerging challenges. This will be achieved through updates to the Plan, continuous risk assessment, stakeholder engagement and “the implementation of robust safeguards that ensure ethical and equitable AI use.”
HHS’s vision is to be a global leader in innovating and adopting responsible AI to achieve unparalleled advances in the health and well-being of all Americans. The development and deployment of AI in health and human services settings should focus on providing tangible benefits for people who use or receive these services. Some of these potential benefits include but are not limited to:
- Accelerating scientific breakthroughs that could increase the quality and length of life;
- Being used as part of a medical product or to develop medical products to improve safety and effectiveness;
- Improving clinical outcomes and enhancing safety through innovations in healthcare delivery;
- Improving equity and empowering participants through enhanced health and human services benefits delivery; and
- Forecasting risks and rapidly mobilizing resources to predict and respond to public health threats. Such potential does not come without risks.
While AI could significantly improve many aspects of healthcare and human services, it also presents possible risks that could lead to adverse impacts or outcomes, such as algorithmic bias that may unintentionally reduce equity or breach protected information. So, we can only hope that HHS’s new AI strategic plan will both strengthen and safeguard America’s healthcare efforts.
You can review the 198-page Plan by clicking on this link: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Strategic Plan for the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Health, Human Services, and Public Health