Project Title

Sociotechnical Health-specific AI Impact Assessment

Organization

Confidential

Project Description

Applications of AI in public health and health care are diverse and range from public health surveillance, to patient scheduling and clinical decision support. As with other technologies, AI systems can also result in unintended consequences, from the exacerbation of health inequities through widening digital divides, to changing professional work practices.

As applications of AI in health care continue to grow, ensuring responsible and trustworthy design, development, and use that balances risks with benefits will be essential.

As part of a broader program of policy work on AI in healthcare in Ontario, this algorithmic impact assessment (AIA) set out to assess the multi-level impacts of AI technologies intended for use in health care.

Approach

This impact assessment was informed by a structured review of the research literature on health-related AI risks, benefits, and harms, and existing impact assessments.

More than 200 sources were included in the final review.

AIA Domains

The AIA is comprised of a number of domains and sub-domains, each with their own questions, including:

  • System Sponsorship / Project Funding

  • Intellectual Property

  • Value Proposition and Intended Uses

  • Data Provenance

  • Model Development

  • Implementation Setting

  • Implementation Team

  • Reliability

  • Transparency

  • Safety

  • Explainability

  • Security

  • Maintenance, Monitoring, and Oversight

  • Decommissioning

Use Cases

Different use cases of the AIA were also developed, each oriented to different intended purposes, including:

  • Informing Responsible Development & Implementation

  • Assessing Conformity with Legislation / Regulation

  • Conditions of Access to Datasets for AI Model Training

Project Status

This project is complete.