The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) today released a new technology assessment titled Artificial Intelligence in Health Care: Benefits and Challenges of Machine Learning in Drug Development. The technology assessment is in two parts – the first part was authored by the National Academy of Medicine and presents material excerpted and adapted from the NAM Special Publication Artificial Intelligence in Health Care: The Hope, the Hype, the Promise, the Peril. Part two is the full presentation of GAO’s Technology Assessment Artificial Intelligence in Health Care: Benefits and Challenges of Machine Learning in Drug Development.
In a letter preceding the technology assessment, Timothy M. Persons, Chief Scientist and Managing Director, Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics at GAO, and J. Michael McGinnis, Leonard D. Schaeffer Executive Officer of the NAM, note that the US health care system is under pressure to better address the effectiveness and efficiency of our nation’s health care delivery system due to our aging population and the rising costs of health care. They note that artificial intelligence and machine learning are a set of technologies that have promising applications in health care – but also raise ethical, legal, economic, and social questions. “The GAO and the NAM, individually and in collaboration, have taken up the charge to explore AI/ML in health care, assess its implications, and identify key options available for optimizing its use.”
A free PDF download of the GAO’s technology assessment is available here. Although GAO and NAM staff consulted with and assisted each other throughout this work, reviews were conducted by NAM and GAO separately and independently, and authorship of the text of each part remains solely with the NAM and the GAO, respectively.
The National Academy of Medicine, established in 1970 as the Institute of Medicine, is an independent organization of eminent professionals from diverse fields including health and medicine; the natural, social, and behavioral sciences; and beyond. It serves alongside the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering as an adviser to the nation and the international community. Through its domestic and global initiatives, the NAM works to address critical issues in health, medicine, and related policy and inspire positive action across sectors. The NAM collaborates closely with its peer academies and other divisions within the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
Please direct media inquiries to Dana Korsen at dkorsen@nas.edu.
