2023-10-02 09:22:00
Various associations and societies in the health field have come together to request an ethical commitment to a decalogue of requirements for artificial intelligence (AI) in health. Thus, we want to avoid misinformation and use AI systems for the benefit of professionals and patients.
A group of patient associations, medical societies and hospital organizations have come together to ask companies that develop artificial intelligence (AI) in health to take precautions.
To this end, they have requested an ethical commitment at the recent symposium “Hacking healthcare: Artificial Intelligence in Health”.
The symposium was organized by the Association of Innovators in eHealth (AIES), the ITEMAS network (dependent on the Carlos III Health Institute) and the #SaludsinBulos Institute.
The project is framed in Health Hackathon, a process of co-creation of digital health solutions driven by health professionals.
Implications of AI in health
The truth is that artificial intelligence is expected to significantly reduce the workload of healthcare professionals. The workload is likely to decrease by 20% for doctors and 8% for nursing.
Carmen Jódar, president of AIES and head of digital strategy at the Junta de Andalucía, considers that this reduction in workload would mean an increase in time with the patient.
“Various studies have shown that many of the diagnoses made by AI are more precise than those that any medical equipment can make. It is also helping to better allocate healthcare resources and provide more personalized treatments,” explains the doctor.
However, there are also risks when implementing AI in the healthcare field, such as misinformation. An example are the deep fakes or videos with images created by artificial intelligence. They are very dangerous, as they can use another person’s face and modify their voice and words.
AI, a new market already in use
According to data from the consulting firm Insight10, in Spain it is expected that the artificial intelligence market in health will reach 2.5 billion dollars by 2030.
On the other hand, the forecast annual growth rate for the period 2022-2030 is 44.22%.
The truth is that AI is already applying various solutions in the healthcare field. A clear example is the triage system at the Parc Taulí University Hospital. It is a symptom evaluator located in the emergency room based on artificial intelligence.
Among the benefits, waiting times are considerably reduced and the safety of healthcare is increased.
On the other hand, AI is also being implemented in Spain in rehabilitation centers, with artificial vision and developing biomarkers aimed at therapeutic targets to achieve greater precision in treatments.
EFE/ Rayner Peña R.
An ethical commitment
AIES and the #SaludsinBulos institute defend an ethical commitment to AI in health.
Various primary care and nursing scientific societies have already joined them, although more members are expected.
Decalogue of the good use of AI in health
For this commitment, professionals from organizations have detailed a decalogue of requirements that should be implemented to ensure the proper use of AI in health:
Autonomy: For AI systems to be effective, they must preserve people’s autonomy. Likewise, in the field of health, these systems must be able to be corrected and supervised by professionals.
Welfare: Artificial intelligence must promote the well-being of people, and its purpose must be oriented towards the public interest. To do this, safe, precise, effective and quality systems must be developed.
Reliability: In order to inspire trust, an AI system must be legal, that is, it must ensure compliance with relevant regulations, avoiding biases and unjustified beliefs.
Equity: To the extent possible, AI systems should be equitable. To do this, it should be extended to all regions and thus reach all possible people without any type of discrimination.
True information: AI should help health literacy and the identification and dissemination of true health information. To do this, it is essential that they identify the sources and references of the texts and images. Additionally, they must be able to counter misinformation with truthful information.
Privacy: AI systems in health require good mechanisms that guarantee the privacy and security of their data. In this way, they will be treated responsibly both in healthcare and in scientific research.
Representativeness: Solutions developed by artificial intelligence must use reliable and representative data of their universe. In this way, they will comply with the principles of justice, equality, diversity and inclusion with which the risks to fundamental rights and security posed by AI are mitigated.
Responsibility: There must be mechanisms that comply with legislation and ensure responsibility in the development and use of AI systems. Accountability is necessary that recognizes responsibility for those who feel harmed by decisions based on these systems, who can question them and obtain redress.
Sustainability: AI systems in health must be evaluated periodically and transparently on real situations to know how the process of meeting the proposed expectations is going. Furthermore, these systems must minimize their environmental effects and be energy efficient.
Transparency: This quality makes it possible for artificial intelligence systems to be understandable. They must be provided with sufficient information so that their capabilities and limitations can be known, as well as allowing the path of their actions to be traced and be explainable.
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