Inside STAT: What ex-Pentagon chief Ash Carter learned about AI in combat

If someone gets hurt, you can’t blame it on the machine — that’s the message that former U.S. defense secretary Ash Carter had for the audience at an AI in medicine conference in Boston this week. Although Carter is not one to usually speak about health care, he has plenty of experience with the dilemmas of AI. He oversaw, for instance, the development of autonomous drones and other AI-enabled systems for use in combat, where algorithmic errors can result in the deaths of countless civilians. And given his experience, he emphasized the need for human oversight over AI, especially in health care. But what that oversight look like remains an open debate. STAT’s Casey Ross has more for STAT Plus subscribers here.