An MSU political science researcher has found the use of artificial intelligence in medicine may lead to marginalized people receiving inadequate care.

Ana Bracic, assistant professor, has published a new  article in the journal "Science" that highlights the dangers of increasing exclusion of minority populations through the use of artificial intelligence in medicine.

“Exclusion and racial disparities are so intractable in medicine, despite efforts to reduce them on the part of physicians and health systems,” Bracic wrote.” The use of AI within a biased system will only make the problems worse.”

The article “Exclusion cycles: Reinforcing disparities in medicine” was co-authored by Shawneequa L. Callier (George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Science) and W. Nicholson Price II (University of Michigan Law School) and published in the September issue.  The authors looked into clinical practice, data collection and medical AI.

They found that discrimination in the medical world leads some minoritized groups to have to self-advocate,withdraw from the system, or rely on other response strategies. The “exclusion cycle” occurs when the dominant group assumes the response strategies are inherent behaviors of the minoritized group and not responses to the discrimination. 

For the full story, visit polisci.msu.edu