The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded 2.3 million to a new research initiative on artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare. The ELSA Lab, led by the University of Amsterdam, is investigating how AI can be developed in a fair and inclusive way, with a special focus on underrepresented groups in healthcare.
Interdisciplinary collaboration
The lab is housed at the University of Amsterdam’s (UvA) Law for Health and Life and is led by Anniek de Ruijter (health law) and Julia van Weert (health communication). ’We are proud to lead this collaboration between law, communication science, AI, healthcare and social engagement’, says de Ruijter. ’With this lab, we want to ensure that justice in the application of AI in healthcare is a core value.’
Pim Haselager and Anco Peeters from Radboud University are also involved in the lab. They are investigating the role that artificial intelligence can play in making healthcare more just and accessible. Anco Peeters, researcher in the Societal Impact research group: ’The social and ethical implications of AI are central to our research. Based on this expertise, we contribute to this ELSA lab by investigating what moral concerns there are for how, for example, people with low literacy levels encounter more barriers than others in care questions.
Van Weert (UvA) emphasises the importance of legal guidelines: ’To create AI that truly benefits all groups in society, and especially the most vulnerable, legal clarity, inclusive design, good communication and trust are needed. This lab offers us the opportunity to unite diverse perspectives around one shared goal: equitable care.’
Diverse expertise
The team includes researchers from various disciplines, including data science, ethics, psychology and healthcare. In addition to Radboud University, partners include Amsterdam UMC, VU University Amsterdam, Utrecht University (and the ELSA Lab AI for Low Literacy), the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS) and social organisations such as the Dutch Migrant Health Foundation (SGAN), the MIND Foundation, the Ben Sajet Centre, Vilans, the Royal Auris, the Centre for Urban Mental Health, Amsterdam AI and the Amsterdam Public Health Service (GGD), as well as private partners such as ITSLanguage, Syntho and Studio OOK.
The importance of AI for healthcare
AI can improve healthcare, but there is also a risk that existing inequalities will increase. AI systems trained with limited data sets may perform less well for various population groups.
The ELSA Lab is identifying these problems and developing solutions for an inclusive digital health infrastructure. Existing regulations, such as the GDPR, are taken into account and guidelines are drawn up to make AI fairer.
An important part of this is transparency in AI development. Databases must be representative, and AI technologies accessible and understandable to healthcare providers and patients.
