Artificial intelligence and medical algorithms are deeply intertwined with our modern health care system. These technologies mimic the thought processes of doctors to make medical decisions and are designed to help providers determine who needs care. But one big problem with artificial intelligence is that it very often replicate the biases and blind spots of the humans who create them.
Researchers and physicians have warned that algorithms used to determine who gets kidney transplants, heart surgeries and breast cancer diagnoses display racial bias. Those problems can lead to detrimental care that, in some cases, can jeopardize the health of millions of patients.