Artificial intelligence (AI) in health care

About AI in health care

Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is a kind of computer technology used to do things that normally need human thinking, like learning new information or solving problems.

AI uses a range of different methods, including machine learning and deep learning. These methods use maths to boost the way that computers process words, images and sound to find patterns, and sometimes even make new things.

How AI is being used in health care

Artificial intelligence is helping health care in many ways by improving diagnosis, treatment, patient support, and how health services run.

AI is already being used in a range of ways in Australian health and care settings. Some examples include:

• cancer screening – analyses images to detect cervical, breast and prostate cancer
• aged care homes – AI robots for companionship and monitoring
• scribes – generative AI that listens to patient consultations and automatically generates notes, care plans and orders for tests
• clinical decision support – combines information about diseases and treatment pathways and suggests diagnoses and tests based on patient symptoms
• chatbots – assists in finding information on healthcare websites
• AI in surgical tools – AI helps surgeons to make decisions and operate instruments during surgery
• skin checks – analyses photographs to check skin health, detect melanoma or other skin cancers
• image analysis in radiology and pathology – AI reads X-ray images to diagnose disease or broken bones
• AI in medical records – analyses risks to patients to predict bed usage or surges on the healthcare system
• wound care – monitors images of wounds, measures and analyses healing, using AI to support healing at home and in regional locations.

Using AI safely

AI can help improve health care, but it also comes with risks that need to be managed carefully. These risks can affect how safe, fair and trustworthy AI systems are.

AI can change as it learns, which means a tool that starts out as low risk could become high risk over time. It can be hard to understand how AI generates results, or outputs. This can make errors or harm more likely. AI systems also use large amounts of data. If this data isn’t protected properly, it could lead to privacy breaches or harm to patients.

AI might not work well for everyone. If the data used to train AI doesn’t include people from all backgrounds, the results could be unfair or inaccurate.

What we’re doing about AI in health care

We are aligning with Australia’s whole of economy approach to AI, led by the Department of Industry, Science and Resources through Australia’s National AI Plan.

Safe and responsible AI review

To support safe and responsible AI use, we recently conducted a legislation and regulation review, including a national consultation.

The review looked at how AI could affect the way health care is regulated in Australia. It also looked at how non-regulatory measures could help make sure AI is used safely and responsibly.

The consultation looked at how AI is being used, what risks it brings, and how we can make sure that the benefits reach everyone. It included public webinars, written feedback, and meetings with experts. We released our public consultation paper in 2024 and invited public feedback.

Read the final review report.

AI guidance for health professionals

To help clinicians safely use AI in their day-to-day practice, we worked with the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care to develop an AI Clinical Use Guide.

Regulation

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) regulates some kinds of AI tools. These include AI tools involved in:

• diagnosis
• treatment
• monitoring
• prevention or prediction
• compensation for a disability.

You can find more information about these rules, known as medical device regulation, on the TGA’s website.

Other laws apply to the use of AI in Australian health care, including:

• privacy law which protects the privacy of individuals
• consumer law which explains consumer rights and business responsibilities
• various professional standards that address professional conduct.