A citizens' jury on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare has called for an independent regulator and commissioner to oversee the technology.
The jury has set out a series of 25 recommendations for health policymakers on the safe, ethical and inclusive use of AI in Ireland's healthcare system.
The jury has also written an open letter to Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and to Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke setting out the need for a regulator, alongside a national strategy to chart the course of AI in healthcare over the next five years.
Organised by the Irish Platform for Patient Organisations, Science and Industry (IPPOSI), the jury of 24 individuals, representative of the population of Ireland, convened from September to December 2024 to offer the public’s perspective on the issue of AI in healthcare.
Jurors endorsed the early, low-risk deployment of high-quality, human-monitored AI tools in helping alleviate pressures on the healthcare system, in pioneering advances in treatment and care, and in empowering individuals to take a more active role in their own health.
However, in so doing, the jury emphasised the need for strong regulation, transparent oversight and robust data security.
With AI potentially involved in everything from managing waiting lists, to analysing X-rays, to undertaking robotic surgery, the jury emphasised the importance of transparency, patient autonomy and informed consent.
While supporting the automatic enrolment of individual health data for training AI, jurors agreed that people must be clearly informed and given the option to opt out.
The jury also recommended that patients have the right to be informed when AI is involved in their healthcare and, where feasible, be given the choice to receive diagnosis or treatment without AI involvement.
Professor Richard Greene of University College Cork, a member of the independent jury oversight panel, is an obstetrician and gynaecologist, as well as the HSE’s Chief Clinical Information Officer.
"As a healthcare professional, I welcome the jury’s strong emphasis on keeping humans at the heart of patient care," Prof Greene said.
"AI can support us in enhancing decision-making and in delivering better outcomes, but it is an aid to healthcare professionals, not a replacement."
"To avoid unintended consequences, its use requires continuous oversight, rigorous evaluation, and clear accountability, with humans firmly in the loop," he added.
Responding to the recommendations, IPPOSI Chairperson Joan Johnston called for work to get under way immediately on the development of a national strategy.
"A statutory regulatory body, backed by independent public oversight, that works to ensure the safeguarding of health data, is a worthy recommendation by the jury, and IPPOSI echoes its call on Government to immediately start work on a national strategy for the future use of AI in healthcare that reflects the priorities set out by jurors," Ms Johnston said.
