Fair AI for the Transformation of Healthcare – FAITH

Funder: Project funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.3 – Cascade Call related to the Program “Future Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR)” funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU

Award Number: Cascade Call related to the Program “Future Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR)” PE00000013, CUP J33C22002830006

Start date: 01/04/2024

End date: 31/03/2025

Total NRRP funding for the whole project: 114.673,00€

Total NRRP funding for Unipr: 114.673,00€

Objectives

FAITH has been selected within the Cascade Call of the Program FAIR (Future Artificial Intelligence), in order to complement the activities of the Spoke 8 in the realization of the 8th Goal that is dedicated to “AI Act analysis, bias and applications in healthcare”. The exponential growth of the application of artificial intelligence systems to healthcare, which has inevitably reshaped treatment concepts and the doctor-patient relationship, postulates the need to implement trustworthy and unbiased artificial intelligence technologies or, more specifically, mitigate the inherent level of bias inevitably present in algorithm-based systems. Therefore, the aim of the FAITH project is to undertake the ethical and legal implications of bias and the risk of discrimination when using AI-based technologies in healthcare, in the light of the upcoming AI ACT formal adoption. 

Activities

The FAITH project aims to provide an overview on the key risks of algorithmic bias, identifying the ethical and legal implications of the issue of bias and analysing how the upcoming AI Act addresses these issues, as well as other European legislation on data (such as the GDPR, the Data Governance Act, ..). The ultimate objective is to offer guidance for the development of technologies oriented towards the assumption of keeping humans involved in the whole process of the algorithm and towards the constitutional value of fairness, by stressing the concept of "equity by design" or preferably "equity by education," specifically in the education of those who will train and design algorithms.

To complement the activities of Spoke 8, the FAITH project intends to provide a comprehensive analysis of the AI ACT, focusing on the issues related to bias in the healthcare context in order to raise awareness among the different stakeholders and identify possible mitigation strategies.

• UCB, University Center for Bioethics
• Department of Law Politics and International Studies
• Department of Economics and Management
• Department Medicine and Surgery
• Department Engineering and Architecture

• Università degli Studi di Parma (UNIPR)

The FAITH project will be able to provide results on both the knowledge level (A) and the operational level (B). The results of the project on the knowledge level are multifaceted, encompassing a range of activities designed to enhance understanding and awareness of AI's role in healthcare, with specific attention to the issue of bias. This comprehends: 1. a multidimensional analysis of the legal and regulatory framework on AI technologies, in light of the identified challenges; 2. educational webinars for physicians, healthcare workers and professionals from different fields on the risk of bias in medical AI applications and healthcare settings, as well as on the importance of human factor in the use of AI technologies in this sector, taking into account the ethical and legal issues involved (e.g. risk of discrimination, medical liability, deskilling, patient-doctor relationship); 3. an international conference with an interdisciplinary focus with health professionals and AI experts (e.g. AI developers, legal scholars, ethicists, policymakers,...). The conference will focus on facilitating cross-disciplinary dialogue, sharing cutting-edge research, and discussing practical implications of AI in healthcare and the issue of bias. Indeed, it will also be an opportunity to disseminate the knowledge and the results reached within the FAITH project, which will then be collected in the publication of a scientific volume (or scientific articles).

On the operational level, the FAITH project aims to develop various ethical-legal toolkits for the responsible use of artificial intelligence tools in the healthcare sector, with particular consideration to the risk of bias. Each toolkit will be designed and tailored to the needs of different recipients (such as doctors and hospitals, developers of artificial intelligence models, data management experts), and, most importantly, will take into account the specific requirements of the Italian healthcare system. By addressing both the knowledge and operational levels, the project aims to create a comprehensive approach to integrating AI in healthcare, ensuring that the technology is used responsibly, ethically, and effectively, particularly in the context of the Italian healthcare system.

https://fondazione-fair.it/