Lawmakers are considering legislation to rein in artificial intelligence in health care and improve transparency surrounding it. A local representative and emergency physician is leading the effort.
“AI is running amok, representing itself as a licensed medical professional, which is illegal in Pennsylvania,” said. Rep. Arvind Venkat (D-Allegheny).
Last fall, Venkat introduced House Bill 1925, “Regulation of the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Health Care.” It passed out of the House Communications and Technology committee with bipartisan support in early May and now awaits a vote on the House floor.
The bill aims to improve transparency surrounding the use of AI in health care and set parameters on when to require human intervention.
“We don’t have transparency on when AI is being used in health care,” Venkit said. “The second part of that question is to require a human decision maker when there is a critical decision, either in clinical decision-making or in prior authorization and utilization review by health insurers… It’s the partnership between a human decision maker and AI that allows the best outcome for patients.”
House Bill 1925 was passed out of committee just days after the Shapiro Administration sued Character Technologies, the company behind Character.AI. The lawsuit claims the company’s chatbots are illegally representing themselves as licensed doctors.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction “to stop AI companion bots from posing as licensed professionals and providing medical advice.”
Character Technologies wrote in a statement to NBC News, “The user-created Characters on our site are fictional and intended for entertainment and roleplaying. We have taken robust steps to make that clear, including prominent disclaimers in every chat to remind users that a Character is not a real person and that everything a Character says should be treated as fiction.”
Venkat uses artificial intelligence in his practice and supports its use with clear, set boundaries.
“These are common sense guardrails that we should put in place as this technology is rapidly evolving,” Venkat said.
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