Study finds that artificial intelligence can determine race from medical images

Artificial intelligence (AI) is used in a wide variety of health care settings, from analyzing medical images to assisting with surgical procedures. While AI can sometimes outperform trained clinicians, these superhuman abilities are not always fully understood. In a recent study published in The Lancet Digital Health, researchers found that AI models could accurately predict self-reported race in several different types of radiographic images--a task not possible for human experts. These findings suggest that race information could be unknowingly incorporated into image analysis models, which could potentially exacerbate racial disparities in the medical setting. "AI has immense potential to revolutionize the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of numerous diseases and conditions and could dramatically shape the way that we approach health care," said first study author and NIBIB Data and Technology Advancement (DATA) National Service Scholar Judy Gichoya, M.D. "However, for AI to truly benefit all patients, we need a better understanding of how these algorithms make their decisions to prevent unintended biases."