At first glance, the Coalition for Health AI looks like any technology lobbying group. Its membership — including Microsoft, Google, and many of the nation’s largest academic hospitals — forms a formidable presence in Washington.
But on Monday, the coalition forged a different deal with federal regulators. It will work with them to develop quality and safety standards for artificial intelligence, an experiment that will test whether industry and government can effectively partner in the regulation of a fast-moving technology.
The nonprofit announced that its board of directors will include leaders from the Food and Drug Administration and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology — agencies that, until now, have been setting up guardrails for AI in health care on their own. Government staffers will now work alongside industry scientists to develop evaluation methods and address new questions posed by generative AI and its emerging applications.