AI standards launched to help tackle problem of overhyped studies

The first international standards for the design and reporting of clinical trials involving artificial intelligence have been announced in a move experts hope will tackle the issue of overhyped studies and prevent harm to patients. While the possibility that AI could revolutionise healthcare has fuelled excitement, in particular around screening and diagnosis, researchers have previously warned that the field is strewn with poor-quality research. Now an international team of experts has launched a set of guidelines under which clinical trials involving AI will be expected to meet a stringent checklist of criteria before being published in top journals. The new standards are being simultaneously published in the BMJ, Nature Medicine and Lancet Digital Health, expanding on existing standards for clinical trials – put in place more than a decade ago for drugs, diagnostic tests, and other interventions – to make them more suitable for AI-based systems. Prof Alastair Denniston of the University of Birmingham, an expert in the use of AI in healthcare and member of the team, said the guidelines were crucial to making sure AI systems were safe and effective for use in healthcare settings.