Toronto scientist gets big award to study artificial intelligence in health care
Amazon just awarded a Toronto-based researcher $85,000 to study the consequences of implementing artificial intelligence in health care.
“I think there needs to be a conversation about how to mitigate the potential negative harms that [these tools] may come with,” Rahul Krishnan, an assistant professor exploring computational medicine at the University of Toronto, told CTV News Toronto.
Amazon Research Awards were handed to 79 academic researchers last week to study topics from sustainability to automated reasoning.
The 33-year-old Toronto recipient began taking an interest in computational medicine years ago when he was studying electrical and computer engineering at the University of Toronto, beginning in 2008.
“This is well before machine learning was in the public eye in any way,” Krishnan said. “By the time I completed my PhD (at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology), machine learning exploded.”
Krishnan's award comes at a time when artificial intelligence has captured the public's attention, with programs such as ChatGPT and MidJourney made accessible to anyone with an internet connection.
Just last week, Microsoft announced plans to integrate GPT-3 language models into Epic, an electronic health record (EHR) software used in North American hospitals.
“There are obviously consequences with this decision and so what we would like to do is study some of these consequences,” Krishnan said.
“I think it’s a really important question to study because medicine is a field that is not static, what constitutes the standard of care is something that is dynamic and changes over time.”
‘PLAYING CATCH-UP’
As popularity spikes, questions on the future of artificial intelligence have surfaced, and many are asking how we will regulate the tools.
“I think our regulation, particularly in the context of health care, has been playing catch-up over the years,” Krishnan said.
“There is really a need for regulation to catch-up so we’re not caught flat footed if these tools do have unintended consequences when deployed in health care.”
One such danger could include “internal biases, baked into the model,” that have the potential to harm patients by perpetuating prejudiced decision-making.
Another research topic he’s pursuing investigates how these biases manifest in machine learning models, in an effort to create tools to help doctors make decisions faster or in a more informed manner.
As an example, he pointed to disparities that exist in the kidney transplant waitlist. Black people are four times more likely to develop kidney failure than white people in the United States, yet they are less likely to receive a lifesaving transplant, according to 2020 findings in the National Library of Medicine (NLM).
“Our findings support previous work examining the effects of discrimination and medical mistrust on referral,” the research states.
One of the challenges in Canada is a lack of sufficient data available on subgroup identities, Krishnan said. “I think it’s naive to say there is no disparity. I believe those disparities do exist.”
His goal with this research is to identify disparities existing in medical data, work to improve outcomes for those patients, and then assess how to apply the methods they adapt to other discriminated groups.
Across the board, Krishnan said he aims to understand the strength of tools in artificial intelligence, alongside their limitations.
“I think that there is both an enormous amount of opportunity here and an enormous amount of care that needs to be given.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
El Nino weakening doesn't mean cooler temperatures this summer, forecasters say
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
BREAKING 15-year-old boy stabbed Thursday in Nepean dies
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
Dash cam catches moment suspected drunk driver hits parked car, sends it careening into North Shore flower shop
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
Nylander defends Leafs' core after playoff exit, Toronto again picks up the pieces
The Maple Leafs battled back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Boston Bruins with consecutive 2-1 victories - including one that required extra time - in their first-round playoff series to push the club's Original Six rival to the limit before suffering a devastating Game 7 overtime loss.
Amid climate change warnings, Canadians lukewarm on electric vehicles
Amid scientists' warnings that nations need to transition away from fossil fuels to limit climate change, Canadians are still lukewarm on electric vehicles, according to a study conducted by Nanos Research for CTV News.
Three dead, two hospitalized, following collision in Fredericton: police
Three people have died and two have been hospitalized after a speeding car struck a tree and landed on another vehicle in Fredericton Sunday morning.
Montreal man on the hook for thousands of dollars after a feature on his Tesla caused an accident
A Montreal man is warning Tesla drivers about using the Smart Summon feature after his vehicle hit another in a parking lot.
Madonna's biggest-ever concert transforms Rio's Copacabana beach into a massive dance floor
Madonna put on a free concert on Copacabana beach Saturday night, turning Rio de Janeiro's vast stretch of sand into an enormous dance floor teeming with a multitude of her fans.
Mexican authorities say thieves killed 2 Australians and an American to steal their truck
Thieves killed two Australians and an American on a surfing trip to Mexico in order to steal their truck, particularly because they wanted the tires, authorities said Sunday.