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AstraZeneca data and AI ethics
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Ethics at the core of our data and artificial intelligence ambitions
Rapid advancements in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) are revolutionising the pharmaceutical industry. At AstraZeneca, these advances have already begun to change the way we work in several business areas. AI systems can help us improve our supply chain when delivering medicines, design smarter trials and better understand diseases, and match patients with the right clinical trials by creating biological insight Knowledge Graphs. AI tools, including generative AI technology, have the potential to do this and much more, creating opportunities for us to push the boundaries of science to deliver life-changing medicines. Our foundational ethical principles are supporting our ambitions for the future of AI at AstraZeneca.
Our principles for ethical data and AI
Rapid developments in AI technology have brought us into uncharted territory, and companies and regulators must work together to meet the new challenges posed. Our principles empower us and our partners to navigate this new environment safely and effectively. By encouraging innovation and evolution while maintaining our values, they provide a long-term ethical foundation for our AI work to benefit patients and employees and enable us to make a positive contribution to society.
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The pace of change in healthcare is moving more rapidly than ever before as data and AI technology dramatically accelerate our progress. At AstraZeneca, we are embracing the adoption of responsible AI solutions, from discovery to clinical trials, treatment delivery and beyond to bring the right medicines to the right patients, faster than ever before.
Why data and AI ethics matters to us
Along with excitement and opportunity, AI systems bring new ethical considerations. At AstraZeneca, we pride ourselves on living our values in everything we do, including our work with data and AI. We are optimistic about maximising the benefits of AI, driving human and machine to embody our company values. Data, AI and digital is a foundational pillar of our scientific approach. Overseeing our data and AI is a key priority as part of our sustainability strategy and company-wide Code of Ethics.
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An ethical approach is vital to ensuring the benefits of AI are shared by all. We welcome the guidelines which have already emerged from regulators around the world – but there is more to be done. We want to work with regulators and partners to help shape a sustainable environment for innovative and responsible AI to thrive.
Living our principles
We are determined to learn and continuously integrate the principles into our company’s ways of working. We began the journey by implementing an AI Governance Framework, Risk Framework and Playbook to help our AI developers and users do the right thing. We recognise this is an emerging area in regulation and public expectations, and will continue to evolve our thinking and approach to data and AI ethics as these areas mature.
Driving improved global health outcomes
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“Responsible use of Artificial Intelligence and data plays a key role in our sustainability strategy, together with sharing knowledge and engaging regulators to drive best practice. In our ‘Sustainable AI to Drive Global Health’ white paper, a collaboration with AI Sweden, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and the Federation of European Academies of Medicine (FEAM) – through the FEAM Forum, we examine and recommend best practices in improving and accelerating healthcare research and delivery using Artificial Intelligence amidst the evolving European legal landscape”.
Peder Blomgren, Vice President and Head of R&D Data Office, AstraZeneca
HR Workforce Analytics
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"My team piloted an analytics tool aimed at understanding how people collaborate when using various business technologies. This tool provided valuable insight on how working patterns have evolved through the COVID-19 pandemic."
Pedro Nunes, Head of Global Business Services Analytics, AstraZeneca
Scientific Collaboration with BenevolentAI
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“Our ongoing collaboration with Benevolent AI is AstraZeneca’s largest AI collaboration to date. It presents an exciting opportunity for us to develop novel targeted drugs for two complex diseases with large unmet medical needs- Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) and Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)."
Claus Bendtsen (Executive Director, Data Sciences & Quantitative Biology, AstraZeneca)
Veeva ID: Z4-59823
Date of preparation: November 2023