NEJM aims to hold AI to account with new publication
Zak Kohane is quoted in STAT news article
Excerpt:
“What we’re trying to do is apply the boring old criteria of medical empiricism to these models,” said Isaac “Zak” Kohane, a Harvard University computer scientist who will serve as the journal’s editor. “The bread and butter of NEJM AI is going to be prospective clinical trials. That’s the only way we can figure out if it really makes a difference.”
The fairness and equity of AI applications, and whether the technology helps or harms historically disadvantaged populations, will be a point of focus, Kohane said. NEJM is now publishing a series of essays examining the publication’s role in perpetuating racist thinking in medicine. While structural racism, and its impacts, remain readily apparent in modern medical practice, Kohane said he is optimistic that generative AI tools especially can help counter some of those disparities by increasing access to clinical expertise.
“It’s clear that even with all its warts — and there are many warts — these generative AI services can … serve patients who are waiting for months to see their doctor,” Kohane said.
Kohane said the journal’s content, however, will specifically aim to force model developers, and researchers, to prove that their products benefit real people, not just their bottom lines. Patient perspectives will also be represented in the content and on the journal’s editorial board, which includes Carey Goldberg, a veteran health and science journalist.
“We explicitly are inviting the voice of the patient,” Kohane said. “We all felt that the patient voice is central here, because that’s going to shape the form of AI, the demands put on it, and the regulatory emphasis.”