The FDA will focus on “safe and effective” AI development within health technology.
QUICK FACTS:
- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is in the process of creating an advisory committee for digital health technologies (DHTs), according to a press release.
- Some of the areas to be studied include artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality, digital therapeutics, remote patient monitoring, and wearables.
- The committee will provide an assessment of the benefits, risks, and outcomes of DHTs to “support the development of safe and effective digital health technologies while also encouraging innovation,” the press release states.
- According to Jeff Shuren, M.D., J.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, the “goal is to advance health equity in part through expanding access by bringing prevention, wellness and healthcare to all people where they live – at home, at work, in big cities and rural communities.”
- “Digital health technologies are critical for achieving this transformation in care delivery,” Shuren said. “As digital health technologies advance, the FDA must capitalize on knowledge from inside and outside of the agency to help ensure we appropriately apply our regulatory authority in a way that protects patient health while continuing to support innovation.”
- The committee will consist of nine voting members from “diverse disciplines and backgrounds” and will be completed in 2024.
KEEPING UP WITH ‘RAPIDLY’ CHANGING TECHNOLOGY:
- The FDA’s Director of the Digital Health Center of Excellence, Troy Tabaz, stated in the press release that the committee is designed to ensure the FDA is working within “safety and effectiveness standards.”
- “Technology moves at an incredible pace, and we’re excited to have a committee of experts throughout the field who can help ensure our regulation of these exciting tools maintains an appropriate pace while working within parameters of safety and effectiveness standards,” Tabaz shared.
- “Many of these technologies are novel and tend to rapidly change,” he added, saying, “[I]t’s our duty to seek as much knowledge on them as possible as we determine and implement appropriate regulation to encourage innovation while protecting public health.”
BACKGROUND:
- American Faith reported that the “Godfather of AI,” Geoffrey Hinton, resigned from Google in May after discussing the dangers of AI.
- Hinton shared concerns about AI’s capacity to destroy jobs and create a world where discerning truth becomes difficult.
- He was surprised by the speed of AI advancement, admitting, “The idea that this stuff could actually get smarter than people — a few people believed that. But most people thought it was way off. And I thought it was way off. I thought it was 30 to 50 years or even longer away. Obviously, I no longer think that.”
