European Commission wants to relax AI rules as WHO warns of patient risks due to regulatory vacuum – Health Policy Watch

Technological advances in artificial intelligence applications in healthcare are rapidly outpacing regulatory and ethical protections and creating a dangerous gap in patient safety, a landmark warns Report on AI in Healthcare Systemspublished on Wednesday by the European Region of the World Health Organization (WHO/EURO).

Paradoxically, the WHO’s urgent call for stricter AI regulation coincided with a far-reaching proposal from the European Commission (EC) on Wednesday to relax certain AI regulations across the 27 member states of the European Union – as part of a new law “Digital Omnibus” Package. The aim of the package is to reduce the bureaucratic burden on AI and other digital industries in the EU. But critics argue that it would significantly dilute privacy protections for individuals.

The findings of the WHO report are based on the first comprehensive survey of…