Problems and Opportunities: Artificial Intelligence in Public Health and Research

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being integrated throughout healthcare and research but represents a mixed bag of potential benefits and harms.  After setting the stage with a discussion clarify AI conceptually, the presentation will focus on issues and applications of artificial intelligence in public health, disease modeling, and genetics, including ethical dilemmas applicable to both bench and bedside.

Dr. Matthew Allen Butkus is a Professor in the Department of Social Sciences at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, LA, and an adjunct faculty member of the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems, the College of Nursing and Health Professions, and the Dornsife School of Public Health (starting in January of 2025) at Drexel University, teaching at the undergraduate and graduate level in biomedical ethics and law. He spent two years working with the faculty of the Clinical Research, Investigation, and Systems Modeling (CRISMA) research group in the Dept. of Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, spent two years in direct patient care in behavioral health at Mercy Providence Hospital, and is a certified Health Care Ethics consultant (HEC-C) through the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities. In addition to contributions to textbooks in critical care and manuscripts in environmental ethics, public health, and artificial intelligence, he wrote the textbook Biomedical Ethics and Decision-Making with ongoing projects in neuroethics and artificial intelligence.