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The World Health Organization (WHO) has published new guidelines on the ethics and governance of large multimodal models (LMMs).
LMMs are a fast-growing type of generative AI technology with applications in healthcare.
The guidelines cover both the risks and benefits of MMLs in areas such as diagnosis, clinical treatment, administrative tasks, documentation, medical training, simulated patient encounters, and scientific research.
The guidance also highlights broader healthcare system risks, including accessibility and affordability of best-performing LMMs, as well as potential “automation bias” among healthcare professionals and patients, leading to overlooked errors or inappropriate delegation of decisions to LMMs.
“Governments of all countries must jointly lead efforts to effectively regulate the development and use of AI technologies, such as LMMs,” said Dr Alain Labrique, WHO Director for Digital Health and Innovation in the Science Division.
The body also highlighted the need for engagement of various stakeholders in the healthcare sector at all stages of technology development, including regulators.
“Generative AI technologies have the potential to improve healthcare, but only if those who develop, regulate and use these technologies fully identify and consider the associated risks,” said Dr. Jeremy Farrar, a senior scientist in head of the WHO. “We need transparent information and policies to manage the design, development and use of LMMs to achieve better health outcomes and overcome persistent health inequities. »
The body further recommended that stakeholders invest in public infrastructure, such as computing power and public datasets, accessible to developers in the public, private and nonprofit sectors, which require users adhere to ethical principles and values in exchange for access.
Additionally, WHO recommends using laws, policies and regulations to ensure that MMLs and applications used in health care and medicine, regardless of the risks or benefits associated with the technology AI, respect ethical obligations and human rights standards that affect, for example, a person’s life. dignity, autonomy or privacy.
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