As artificial intelligence (AI) seems to be making its way into every facet of daily life, most of us are learning ways that it can make daily tasks easier and faster. Freeing up what many of us want more of, time. AI is not anything new, it has been evolving since the 1950’s, fast forward to the current day. I feel confident saying AI is here to stand its ground from creativity, to work, to home AI is being used to speed up, increase efficiency, elevate designs, improve process generation, and influence. AI is here and there is no going back.
Almost every major name has jumped on the AI personalization bandwagon from Google, Android, Apple, Adobe, and multiple medical platforms. All have curated their narrowed-in version of an AI assistant within their platform to better help their users be more efficient, more productive, and more creative. Just by looking at content, it is hard to know if AI or humans generate material. Is AI accurate? Is it safe for medical forefronts? Will it replace scientists? So how can and will AI be used safely and with the utmost accuracy to improve research? Who monitors AI use, and reliability?
AI is being used in public health research to predict patterns, severity, and assess risk levels, and can do so with more accuracy and faster than human collaboration could ever imagine. AI serves a major role in future preparedness and human safety, simply by allowing increased time for public awareness and preparation and action. Raising awareness of impending health concerns gives public officials and public health departments more time. Time for development and action when needed. In one study AI was able to assist in vaccine development locating target cells, in record time, compared to previous human-driven models used (Artificial Intelligence in Public Health, Vaccines 2023[CBL1] [MR2] ). For example, in pathogens with multiple variants such as the common flu or COVID-19, using AI to analyze databases from around the world with increased accuracy and impressive speed, means better vaccine availability to the public. Diving in even deeper, AI’s ability to adjust vaccine schedules depending on individual genetic and immunological makeup and predict future health disparities are groundbreaking.
It is revolutionary and can change the way public health officials respond, and how individuals live their lives, increasing quality for all. There is another side, though; who is monitoring these groundbreaking revolutionary changes? In U.S. healthcare, AI applications are largely overseen by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but also state and local healthcare institutions are expected to monitor and regulate AI algorithms in use within their domain. Which brings us to another front: human trust. As we work through the change of time, and establish lasting trust, it will take time for some to understand and trust the machines that are driving our health and future.
Malinda Ruelas
SPECTRE Research Nurse
References:
Artificial Intelligence in Public Health, Vaccines 2023
Artificial Intelligence and Human Trust, Journal of medical Internet Research 2020
*Artificial Intelligence in Public Health: Revolutionizing Epidemiological Surveillance for Pandemic Preparedness and Equitable Vaccine Access
PMID: 37514970 PMCID: PMC10383160 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11071154
*Artificial Intelligence and Human Trust in Healthcare: Focus on Clinicians
doi: 10.2196/15154
Vaccines 2023, https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11071154