The World Health Organization (WHO) warned this Tuesday against the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the health field, which could generate incorrect guidelines, breach personal data or spread false information, which would require greater oversight by governments, which is prompting the Portuguese to progress.
The UN agency calls for “caution” when using platforms such as ChatGPT, Bard or Bert “that simulate the understanding, processing and production of human communications”.
According to the World Health Organization, so-called large language model (LLM) tools, generated by artificial intelligence, can “pose risks to human well-being and public health.”
WHO experts believe that the rapid and widespread dissemination of the anti-money laundering law and the increasing experimental use for health-related purposes are not accompanied by monitoring mechanisms, a post on the UN news portal highlights.
Among the control mechanisms mentioned, AI platforms adhere to values such as transparency, inclusiveness, and specialized oversight or rigorous evaluation.
“WHO recognizes that the appropriate use of technologies, including an LLM, can contribute to supporting health professionals, patients, researchers and scientists,” he adds.
The new platforms “can be a tool to support medical decisions and increase diagnostic capacity in low-resource settings,” but the focus “should be on protecting people’s health and reducing inequalities,” he adds.
Despite the benefits, this agency highlights the “risks associated” with using these tools to improve access to health information, arguing that they “need careful evaluation”.
He warns that “rapid adoption of untested systems could lead to errors by health professionals, cause harm to patients and undermine confidence in artificial intelligence and technologies of the future.”
It also points out that the data used to train AI could be biased, generating false or inaccurate information that could pose health, equity and inclusion risks.
To counter these situations, the World Health Organization suggests that the authorities of each country analyze the benefits of artificial intelligence for health purposes before generalizing its use.
In this sense, the organization has identified six basic principles that should govern: protecting the independence of professionals, promoting human welfare, guarantees of transparency, promoting accountability, and integrating and promoting artificial intelligence.
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