Conference on Applied AI 2022: Responsible AI in Healthcare

Healthcare AI has seen rapid growth and uptake over the last few years, outpacing efforts to ensure that the algorithms in use truly prioritize fair and equitable patient care. Algorithms inform and sometimes guide clinical decision-making, but many organizations fail to accurately train, deploy, and audit their algorithms for equitable outcomes. Our research has shown both the dangers inherent in healthcare AI and practical steps we can take to make progress, but our work alone is not enough. We need the insights and recommendations of a diverse group of stakeholders to effect lasting change.

For this reason, CAAI and the Chicago Booth Healthcare Initiative co-hosted the ‘Conference in Algorithmic Bias: Responsible AI in Healthcare’ on April 4-5, 2022. The event brought together healthcare experts and leaders across academia, industry, and policy to explore responsible AI in healthcare more deeply, all with the goal of finding effective ways to mitigate algorithmic bias to improve health outcomes.

The conference consisted of panels that each aimed to shed light on the role of AI in healthcare under 3 different contexts: Weighing Privacy against Justice, Interoperability and Data standards, and Accreditation. It also included opening remarks from Dr. Alondra Nelson, head of the White House Office of Science and Technology, keynote remarks from Aneesh Chopra, CEO of CareJourney and former Chief Technology Officer under the Obama administration, and closing remarks from Dr. Ziad Obermeyer, professor at Berkeley Public Health. In addition, the event featured case studies from organizations that implemented and analyzed example policy frameworks for responsible AI in healthcare. These organizations included Duke AI Health, Oak Street Health, and Ideas42. 

One of our talented speakers, Chris Hemphill created a follow up video that further expands on the mission of our conference. As Chris says in his video, “leadership must be involved”. Only with the buy-in and engagement of top-level executives can efforts to mitigate algorithmic bias really make headway. Our playbook offers a toolkit for healthcare leaders to foster responsible healthcare algorithms within their organizations..

Moving forward, we hope this event will serve as a stepping stone into asking important questions about the current realities, future hopes, and practical next steps for AI in healthcare. Our Center is looking forward to creating additional programming that will expand on this conversation, and we hope you will join us along the way! 

If you are interested in resources from this event, please reach out to us. For updates on future events and new research, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter.