Let me talk to you.

In the context of an old-fashioned traditionalist, maybe I am just a fuddy duddy. However, I am also a cancer patient who is not sure how comfortable I would feel with my oncologist relying on Artificial Intelligence to determine the treatment plan for my ailment. In addition, recent poll numbers indicate a majority of patients agree with that assessment. The unfortunate truth remains most people who receive medical treatment already have encountered Artificial Intelligence in places such as their doctor's office, or perhaps in their pharmacy of choice.

MEET SOME OF THE PLAYERS INVOLVED IN THIS COMMENTARY:

-Lloyd B. Minor - Dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine
-Fei-Fei Li - Co-Director of Stanford's Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence
-Sonoo Thadaney Israni - Ex Co-Chair of the Working Group of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare for the National Academy of Medicine
-World Health Organization


Lloyd B. Minor stated, "[The true extent of Artificial Intelligence's use in medicine] is a bit dependent on how one defines AI. But, some uses have been around for years."

I, for one, would desire more of an accurate depiction of this topic than Lloyd Minor offered with his statement.

AUTOMATED HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS:

The vast majority of major healthcare providers currently use automated systems to perform such tasks as to verify the dosage amounts for dispensed medications and to flag possible drug interactions.

Minor praised these achievements when he stated, "There's no question that has reduced medication errors, because of the checking that goes on in the background through applications of AI and machine learning."

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TECHNOLOGIES:

That may be well and good. However, those are not the only ways Artificial Intelligence affects healthcare. Mostly in the fields of cardiology and radiology, and approved by the Food and Drug Administration, there are several hundred medical devices with AI technologies that demonstrate the potential to detect abnormalities and early signs of disease through X-rays and other diagnostic scans.

One thing patients do not need to be concerned about at the present is the science fiction future of robot medical practitioners taking their vital signs and diagnosing them. Don't misunderstand, these features are touted with regularity as to one day actually occurring. Let's hope not, because that is where major issues can easily develop.

ETHICAL USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN HEALTHCARE:

Now that the general public is becoming familiar with how Artificial Intelligence technologies might work, a buzz is arising surrounding how healthcare can ethically, let alone safely, employ AI.

Fei-Fei Li commented, "It's very obvious health and medicine is one of the key areas that AI can make a huge contribution to."

Is that so? At least Li's group has joined with the Stanford School of Medicine to launch what they refer to as RAISE-Health. This new initiative, known as Responsible AI for Safe and Equitable Health, is alleged to be designed to guide the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence across biomedical research, education, and patient care.

SOME CONCERNS ABOUT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE'S INVASION INTO HEALTHCARE:

One of the biggest problems of Artificial Intelligence's invasion into healthcare was asked by Minor when he proposed, "[AI and algorithms] could replicate and amplify disparities ... unless they're recognized and responsibly addressed."

Hystorically-speaking, data groups the FDA typically utilizes to approve drugs have been mostly Whites of European ancestry.

Minor voiced his concern about this tidbit when he explained, "If you train AI on a narrow demographic group, you are going to get results that really only apply to that narrow group."

Minor's comment makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? One of the reasons this Commentary involves many sources at least somewhat associated with Stanford is because for multiple years that prestigious university has been battling the challenges of Artificial Intelligence's uses in healthcare. Stanford has also been at the forefront of those discussions for a long period of time.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN HEALTHCARE: THE HOPE, THE HYPE, THE PROMISE, THE PERIL:

This 2019 report was published by the Working Group of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare for the National Academy of Medicine when Sonoo Thadaney Israni was the group's Co-Chair. Four main areas this report converged on were:

-critically access the opportunities for AI in healthcare
-evaluate AI in healthcare
-AI solutions in healthcare
-build frameworks for creating and testing AI in healthcare

Israni, and her colleagues wrote, "The wisest guidance for AI is to start with real problems in healthcare, like the lack of access to providers for the poor and uninsured, or the ballooning costs of care."

Sounds like a reasonable place for Artificial Intelligence in healthcare to begin.

Israni also posed several key questions about using Artificial Intelligence in healthcare. She wanted to know will using AI provide better health, lower costs, improve patients' experiences in healthcare, affect the well-being of doctors, and promote equity in healthcare?

CENTRAL REGULATION OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN HEALTHCARE:

At the present there is no central regulatory body overseeing AI. As the World Health Organization pointed out, the laws and policies around using Artificial Intelligence in healthcare are both limited and fragmented at best.

Perhaps Israni stated it properly when she proclaimed, "The real question becomes not what should be the regulation, but what should be the values underlying those regulations?"

CONCLUSION:

Artificial Intelligence in healthcare? In this case, though I lean opposed for the most part, the jury is still deliberating.

You didn't ask...but.