Dr Philippa Brice, External Affairs Director at PHG Foundation said: “We are delighted that the Lords Committee has recognised so strongly the critical importance of AI to future healthcare, and in particular their endorsement of the PHG Foundation view that the NHS must drive forward it’s digitisation and embed appropriate and modern digital infrastructure to ensure it is prepared to embrace the new technology.”
AI in the UK: ready, willing and able? urges the NHS to digitise its practices and records, in a format that is consistent country-wide by 2020, so that society can harness the possible benefits of AI.
Dr Sobia Raza, Head of Science at the PHG Foundation, was one of the expert witnesses at evidence sessions to discuss the implications of AI for healthcare.
In her evidence, Dr Raza called for a more joined up approach, which could help in “realising the benefits in terms of negotiations with companies and developing a dataset that could provide more opportunities for accurate tools and algorithms”. Dr Raza also spoke to the benefits of having access to data at a national level, instead of at a local one: “a huge opportunity arises when you can capture the differences in demographics and, essentially, collate a more enriched dataset which is more reflective of the wider population”.
The report makes 74 specific recommendations on how to develop the AI sector as a whole and the government is obliged formally to respond within two months.
Dr Sobia Raza provides a healthcare-focused summary in her blog AI in healthcare - seizing the benefits, avoiding the pitfalls