Over the last decade, advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have created transformational opportunities for health, health care, and biomedical science. While new tools are available to improve effectiveness and efficiency in myriad applications in health and health care, challenges persist, including those related to increasing costs of care, staff burnout and shortages, and the growing disease burden of an aging population. The need for new approaches to address these long-standing challenges is evident and AI offers both new hope and new concerns.

An Artificial Intelligence Code of Conduct for Health and Medicine: Essential Guidance for Aligned Action presents a unifying AI Code of Conduct (AICC) framework developed to align the field around responsible development and application of AI and to catalyze collective action to ensure that the transformative potential of AI in health and medicine is realized. Designed to be applied at every level of decision making—from boardroom to bedside and from innovation labs to reimbursement policies—the publication serves as a blueprint for building trust, protecting patients, and ensuring that innovation benefits people.

Contents

• LEADERSHIP INNOVATION IMPACT for a healthier future
• ABOUT THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF MEDICINE
• AUTHOR GROUP
• DISCLOSURE OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• REVIEWERS
• PREFACE
• ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
• EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• 1. INTRODUCTION
• 2. BACKGROUND
  • DEFINING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
  • IMPLICATIONS OF THE USE OF AI IN HEALTH, HEALTH CARE, AND BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE
  • HOW ADVANCED AI IS DIFFERENT THAN RULE-BASED DIGITAL HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES
  • RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE USE OF AI
  • ALIGNING AI GOVERNANCE EFFORTS FROM THE ORGANIZATION TO THE GLOBAL ARENA
  • APPLYING LESSONS FROM EHRs’ ADOPTION TO THAT OF AI
  • LEARNING HEALTH SYSTEM (LHS) CONTEXT
• 3. AI CODE OF CONDUCT FRAMEWORK
  • SUMMARY OF PROCESS FOR DRAFTING PRINCIPLES AND COMMITMENTS
  • SUMMARY OF PUBLIC COMMENT
• 4. HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE AI LIFECYCLE
  • DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AI DEVELOPMENT AND THE STANDARD APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT LIFECYCLE
• 5. TRANSLATION OF THE AI CODE OF CONDUCT FRAMEWORK TO REAL-WORLD APPLICATIONS
  • AI DEVELOPERS’ PERSPECTIVE
  • RESEARCHERS’ PERSPECTIVE
  • HEALTH SYSTEMS’ AND PAYORS’ PERSPECTIVE
  • PATIENTS’, FAMILIES’, AND THEIR ADVOCATES’ PERSPECTIVES
  • FEDERAL AGENCIES’ PERSPECTIVE
  • HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE WORKFORCE PERSPECTIVE
  • HEALTH CARE QUALITY AND PATIENT SAFETY PERSPECTIVE
  • BIOETHICS AND EQUITY PERSPECTIVES
  • COMMON THEMES AND CONTRIBUTIONS ACROSS STAKEHOLDERS’ PERSPECTIVES
• 6. THE COMPONENTS REQUIRED TO ADVANCE RESPONSIBLE AI
  • TIGHT 1: VISION, VALUES, GOALS, AND EXPECTATIONS
  • LOOSE: IMPLEMENT AND INNOVATE
  • TIGHT 2: MONITOR AND REPORT OUTCOMES
• 7. ADVANCING THE AI CODE OF CONDUCT FRAMEWORK: THE “VITAL FEW” PRIORITY ACTIONS
  • COMMITMENT 1: ADVANCE HUMANITY
  • COMMITMENT 2: ENSURE EQUITY
  • COMMITMENT 3: ENGAGE IMPACTED INDIVIDUALS
  • COMMITMENT 4: IMPROVE WORKFORCE WELL-BEING
  • COMMITMENT 5: MONITOR PERFORMANCE
  • COMMITMENT 6: INNOVATE AND LEARN
• 8. CONCLUSION
• REFERENCES
• AUTHOR INFORMATION

Suggested citation:

National Academy of Medicine. 2025. An Artificial Intelligence Code of Conduct for Health and Medicine: Essential Guidance for Aligned Action. L. Adams, E. Fontaine, M. Matheny, and S. Krishnan, editors. NAM Special Publication. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/29087.

This publication has undergone peer review according to procedures established by the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). Publication by the NAM signifies that it is the product of a carefully considered process and is a contribution worthy of public attention but does not constitute an endorsement of conclusions and recommendations by the NAM. The views presented in this publication are those of individual contributors and do not represent formal consensus positions of the authors’ organizations; the NAM; or the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/29087

Printed in the United States of America.