Scientists convene at Duke-NUS to scrutinise AI in healthcare

Against the rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) across all spheres of society, some 200 clinicians, data scientists, researchers and ethicists from around the world gathered to scrutinise the ethics of using AI in healthcare. The hybrid seminar challenged participants to consider the ethical implications of having robots make care decisions and explore who is accountable for an AI’s decision.

Opening the event, which was held at the Duke-NUS Amphitheatre, Duke-NUS Senior Vice-Dean for Research Professor Patrick Casey outlined the situation faced by the healthcare sector today: “The rapid rise of AI in healthcare is bringing about many concerns regarding ethical considerations and governance issues. And as the technology deploys and is deploying very rapidly, we’re going to need to be able to get a handle on these.”

Elaborating on the challenge at the heart of AI’s capacity to transform healthcare, Guest-of-Honour Professor Tan Chorh Chuan recalled the initial response to social media: “We all were wowed over by its initial utility, but… we are now dealing with many, many unforeseen, unintended consequences.”

The chief health scientist at the Ministry of Health added: “As we apply AI into health, we need to allow innovation to proceed expeditiously for the sake of improving health outcomes. At the same time, we should hopefully take a more anticipatory, pre-emptive and adaptive approach to understand the potential downsides, but work constructively towards ways in which we can mitigate the potential downsides without hindering the progress of things that are also highly beneficial.”

Jointly organised by the SingHealth Duke-NUS Health Services Research Institute and the Science, Health and Policy-relevant Ethics in Singapore (SHAPES) team of the NUS Centre for Biomedical Ethics, the seminar was timely and important as evidenced by the participation of all three medical schools in Singapore, represented by Prof Casey, and deans Professors Chong Yap Seng and Joseph Sung.

A 200-strong audience turned up in person and online to hear experts, including Guest-of-Honour Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, Chief Health Scientist and Executive Director of the Office for Healthcare Transformation at Singapore’s Ministry of Health (centre)

Prof Tan’s speech set the tone for two clinical use case discussions that followed. The first focused on the ethical considerations in the use of AI in resuscitation, while the second explored its implications in a global health setting. The discussion revolved around the fact that AI has the potential to revolutionise healthcare by improving diagnosis, treatment plans, and patient outcomes. However, experts also raised concerns about data privacy, algorithmic bias, and the impact on patient-doctor relationships which need to be addressed.

Guests, speakers and panelists posed a group photo to commemorate the seminar.

In the second part of the seminar, the audience learned more about the need for AI governance, and what that may look like at a national and institutional level from speakers including Prof Sung, Dean of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, and experts from Duke University, as well as SingHealth. Given the sensitive and critical nature of healthcare, the speakers stressed that proper governance mechanisms are essential to ensure that AI is used in a way that is safe and effective, and that safeguards the privacy and autonomy of patients. Hence AI governance in healthcare requires a multidisciplinary approach that brings together experts from fields such as computer science, medicine, law, ethics, and social sciences to ensure that AI is used in a way that benefits patients and society as a whole.

The seminar concluded with a panel discussion on the need to use AI in healthcare with a critical eye and on the ethical considerations involved. As AI becomes increasingly integrated into healthcare, it is important to ensure that it is developed and implemented in a way that respects patient autonomy, values diversity, and fosters trust between patients and healthcare providers.

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Scientists convene at Duke-NUS to scrutinise AI in healthcare

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