HHS officials highlight AI's role and challenges in healthcare at NVIDIA Summit

At NVIDIA's AI Summit in Washington, DC, Micky Tripathi, acting chief artificial intelligence officer for Health and Human Services, emphasized the transformative potential of AI in healthcare, as reported by NextGov. Tripathi highlighted the need for innovation balanced with guardrails, especially when using AI with sensitive clinical data. He outlined AI's current use across HHS divisions like NIH and CDC, including predictive tools, clinical decision support, and streamlining data analysis.

Tripathi stressed the importance of leveraging vast HHS clinical datasets to create specialized AI models, improving diagnostics and reducing medical errors. He warned that healthcare data is biased by systemic disparities, which AI could inadvertently perpetuate.

Belinda Seto, NIH deputy director, called for strong AI ethics in healthcare, underscoring the necessity of maintaining patient-provider trust while deploying AI-driven tools. HHS’s upcoming AI strategic plan, expected in January 2025, will further explore AI’s integration across its mission areas.