To establish an ethical framework for the creation of AI-based technologies that would benefit all stakeholders, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has developed the first set of guidelines in the nation for the application of artificial intelligence in biomedical research and healthcare.
According to a report created by the Department of Health Research and the ICMR’s Artificial Intelligence Cell, AI for health raises additional concerns about potential biases, data handling, interpretation, autonomy, risk minimization, professional competence, data sharing, and confidentiality. It also depends in large part on data collected from human participants.
The guidelines stated, “It is therefore imperative to have an ethical framework that addresses issues specific to AI for biomedical research and healthcare,”
In India, the use of AI technology in healthcare is expanding. According to ICMR Director General Dr. Rajiv Behl, AI as a data-driven technology has numerous potential ethical concerns, including algorithmic transparency and explainability, clarity about liability, accountability, and oversight, bias, and discrimination.
The development of these guiding ethical standards for tools based on artificial intelligence and machine learning has been determined to be necessary by the DHR-ICMR AI Cell.
All stakeholders, including innovators, developers, patients, technologists, researchers, healthcare professionals, ethics committees, sponsors, and funding agencies involved in research related to AI in biomedical research and healthcare, he said, will benefit from these guidelines, which will provide the ethical framework for the development of AI-based tools.
The directive is intended to create an ethical framework that can aid in the development, deployment, and adoption of AI-based solutions for biomedical research and healthcare delivery, according to NTAGI chief Dr. N K Arora.
All parties involved in artificial intelligence research in healthcare, including developers, technicians, researchers, doctors, ethics committees, institutions, sponsors, and funding agencies, are to follow the guidelines.
It has separate sections on governance of artificial intelligence for healthcare and research, guiding principles for stakeholders, the ethics review process, and the informed consent procedure involving human participants and their data.
According to Dr. Arora, the recommendation was developed following lengthy consultations with subject matter experts, researchers, and ethicists.
The statement noted that the introduction of AI into healthcare has the potential to provide the answer to important difficulties such diagnostic and screening, medicines, preventative treatments, clinical decision-making, public health surveillance, complex data processing, and forecasting disease outcomes.
These principles are intended to guide the successful but secure development, implementation, and adoption of AI-based technologies in biomedical research and healthcare delivery, not to restrict innovation or advocate any disease-specific diagnostic or therapeutic approach, according to the statement.
Experts and ethics committees evaluating research proposals involving the use of AI-based tools and technology will refer to these guidelines.
