Google, Amazon and Microsoft give input to new health AI standard

The US-based Consumer Technology Association (CTA) has developed the first ever accredited standard for use of artificial intelligence in health care, with input from tech giants such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google.

More than 50 organisations, from tech giants to startups and healthcare industry leaders, have developed the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredited quality mark.

The standard is part of the CTA’s new initiative on AI and is the first in a series that aims to set a foundation for implementing medical and health care solutions built on the technology.

One issue that the standard aims to resolve is the way that AI-related terms are used in different ways, leading to confusion, particularly in the healthcare industry.

The standard defines over 30 terms including machine learning, model bias, artificial neural network and trustworthiness.

The CTA has also created a working group to address this problem over the last year, which now includes a range of decision makers from 52 organisations and member companies.

It aims to create a standard based on 11 definitions and characteristics and provides a framework for better understanding AI technologies and common terminology.

The hope is that consumers, tech companies and care providers will be able to better communicate, develop and use AI-based health care technologies.

Other definitions include terms like de-identified data, synthetic data, remote patient monitoring and patient decision support system.

Among the definitions, the standard includes highly debated terms such as “assistive intelligence,” which the group defined as a category of AI software that “informs” or “drives” diagnosis or clinical management of a patient, however the health care provider makes the ultimate decisions before clinical action is taken.

Participating organisations include Amazon, which is well known to be moving into healthcare, AT&T, Eli Lilly’s Livongo Health, Microsoft, Mercedes-Benz, and Philips.

Pat Baird, regulatory head of global software standards at Philips and co-chair of the working group, said: “AI will be used for decision support and decision making, which stresses the need for professionals to be able to take ownership, apply judgement and empathy. Transparency and a common language will be key to enable the proper and safe functioning of AI.”