6th Global Gastroenterology and Artificial Intelligence Summit (Live) | September 2024-Maximizing Equality and Minimizing Bias in AI Algorithms

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The document, authored by Maia Hightower, MD, MPH, MBA, CEO of Equality AI, explores the potential and challenges of integrating artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare to improve quality, reduce costs, and enhance patient and provider experiences. It highlights a significant issue: 80% of AI projects in healthcare are failing due to immature governance, stakeholder engagement, biases, health equity concerns, and compliance and risk management issues. <br /><br />The document emphasizes that while AI holds promise in transforming healthcare by improving outcomes and reducing expenses, it is fraught with risks, especially algorithmic biases that can perpetuate racial and other inequities. For example, prior to intervention, Black patients were 50% less likely to be referred when equally sick, showcasing a significant racial bias in AI models. Correcting these biases through tools like better proxy labels can make the AI models fairer, as evidenced by an increase in referral rates from 17% to 44% for Black patients post-intervention.<br /><br />Hightower advocates for a human-centered approach to Machine Learning Operations (MLOps), stressing the importance of diverse teams, stakeholder engagement, robust AI governance, and continuous monitoring and evaluation throughout the AI lifecycle. This includes the application of various bias mitigation strategies at each stage—from data creation to model deployment—ensuring ethical and inclusive AI development and usage.<br /><br />Moreover, the document emphasizes the necessity of aligning AI practices with established national and international standards and regulations such as those from the FDA, DHHS, and NIST. It calls for responsible AI frameworks and toolkits like EqualityML, AI Fairness 360, and Fairlearn, and comprehensive AI governance that includes technical and process audits to measure and improve model performance and fairness.<br /><br />In summary, the key to unlocking AI's value in healthcare lies in addressing its challenges thoughtfully, ensuring ethical use, and involving diverse communities to drive innovation and equity. Clinicians and AI developers are urged to play active roles in this process to ensure AI systems are safe, effective, and equitable.

Asset Subtitle

Maia Hightower, MD, MPH, MBA

Keywords

AI in healthcare

algorithmic biases

health equity

AI governance

stakeholder engagement

MLOps

bias mitigation

ethical AI

AI standards

diverse teams