Letter from the Editor

Ensuring trustworthy health AI


 

At DDW in May, the AGA Ethics Committee sponsored a well-attended clinical symposium focused on key legal, regulatory, and ethical considerations relating to use of artificial intelligence (AI) in health care.

It was a thought-provoking discussion of how to ethically and equitably design and regulate these exciting new technologies to maximize their potential to achieve meaningful improvements in health for our patients while avoiding unintended consequences.

Dr. Megan A. Adams, Editor-in-Chief

Dr. Megan A. Adams

Indeed, one of the vexing challenges in this space is the fact that many AI algorithms and resulting tools are proprietary, impeding the ability to achieve the level of transparency necessary to understand data inputs, outputs, and outcomes, and assess for potential algorithmic bias.

This is an area that remains largely unregulated, with a lack of common standards to guide responsible design, development, and adoption of these tools. This is something that is top of mind for federal regulatory agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, which in September 2022, announced plans to expand its regulation of AI-powered clinical decision support tools as medical devices.

There are also attempts underway to harmonize standards and reporting for health AI and educate end-users on how to evaluate these technologies to drive their responsible adoption. For example, the Coalition for Health AI, a community of academic health systems, organizations, and expert practitioners of AI and data science, recently released its Blueprint for Trustworthy AI Implementation Guidance and Assurance for Healthcare in April 2023. This is a topic we will surely hear more about in the coming years, and one I encourage you to read about in greater depth as it is truly eye-opening.

In this month’s issue of GI & Hepatology News, we update you on a new fatty liver disease nomenclature (including several new acronyms) that will be critical to incorporate into your clinical practice moving forward. In a new recurring article reprinted from Gastro Hep Advances, we highlight important Pearls from the Pros from hepatologists Dr. Lawrence Friedman and Dr. Paul Martin on the management of incidental hepatic steatosis. Our August Member Spotlight features Orlando-based gastroenterologist Dr. Mariam Naveed, who shares her passion for medical education and experience starting a new GI fellowship program.

We hope you enjoy these and all the stories featured in our August issue.

Megan A. Adams, MD, JD, MSc
Editor-in-Chief

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