WHO warns against applying AI models using data from rich counties to everyone else

Using data collected from individuals in high-income earning countries may not perform as well if the healthcare solution was to be used in low- and middle-income settings, according to a new guidance that has been published by the World Health Organization (WHO). "AI systems must be carefully designed to reflect the diversity of socioeconomic and health-care settings and be accompanied by training in digital skills, community engagement, and awareness-raising. Systems based primarily on data of individuals in high-income countries may not perform well for individuals in low- and middle-income settings," WHO wrote in its Ethics and governance of artificial intelligence for health (PDF) report. "Country investments in AI and the supporting infrastructure should therefore help to build effective health-care systems by avoiding AI that encodes biases that are detrimental to equitable provision of and access to healthcare services." WHO added if "appropriate measures" are not taken when developing AI-based healthcare solutions, it could result in "situations where decisions that should be made by providers and patients are transferred to machines, which would undermine human autonomy" and lead to healthcare services being delivered in "unregulated contexts and by unregulated providers, which might create challenges for government oversight of health care".