WHO Call: Stronger AI Ethics in Health

Why in News?

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for stronger and coordinated ethical oversight of AI-related health research.

Need for Enhanced Oversight in AI Health Research – Key Issues and Associated Ethical Concerns

• Pace of AI Development – Research advancements may rapidly transition into real-world healthcare applications.
• Privacy – Artificial intelligence systems are capable of detecting unforeseen patterns, even within anonymized or publicly available datasets.
• Bias – Artificial intelligence may generate inaccurate or discriminatory results for specific demographic groups.
• Fairness and Equity – The distribution of benefits and risks associated with AI may be unequal across different groups.
• Transparency – The processes by which certain artificial intelligence systems generate outputs are often difficult to interpret.
• Accountability – Responsibility for adverse outcomes resulting from AI-assisted decisions is frequently ambiguous.
• Transferability – Artificial intelligence models trained on data from one population may not demonstrate equivalent accuracy when applied to different populations.
• Rapid Deployment – Unidentified issues present during the research phase may swiftly impact patient care.

Role of Research Ethics Committees (RECs)

• RECs are traditionally responsible for protecting research participants.
• However, the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) research introduces novel challenges.
  • Research Ethics Committees may require enhanced technical expertise to adequately assess AI-related studies.
  • Additional training and resources may be necessary to address the complexities of AI research.
  • Certain AI studies do not involve direct interaction with human participants.
  • Studies utilizing anonymized data may not be subject to traditional ethics review processes.
  • The absence of direct human interaction does not eliminate potential ethical risks.

WHO's Approach

• Ethical oversight should not rely solely on Research Ethics Committees.
• Comprehensive ethical oversight may also require the involvement of researchers, funders, data access committees, scientific journals, professional societies, and regulatory agencies.
• WHO's Key Recommendations
  • Enhance ethics training and certification for researchers.
  • Identify ethical risks early in the research process.
  • Increase transparency about known risks.
  • Ensure responsible treatment of data workers.
  • Strengthen communication with the public.
  • Increase public engagement.
  • Strengthen research capacity in developing countries.
  • Promote equitable participation of local researchers and institutions.

Reference

Business Standard | WHO Call: Stronger AI Ethics in Health