AI Assurance Research Path

Investigating new techniques to test and assure AI and machine learning solutions in the NHS

The NHS AI Quality Community of Practice (AIQCoP) is a network of testing and assurance professionals dedicated to supporting the assurance of healthcare AI. While not an assurance function itself, the AIQCoP provides guidance, resources, and advice to assist colleagues and organisations in navigating the complexities of AI assurance. While the project sits within NHS England, the remit of the AIQCoP is the whole of the NHS.

The AIQCoP conducts cutting-edge research to address real-world challenges in AI assurance. Current research areas include boundary analysis in image classifiers, focusing on understanding and validating how AI models make classification decisions; bias in AI training data, investigating scenario and demographic biases to mitigate risks in model performance; literacy bias in chatbots and AI search systems, aiming to ensure equitable access for users with varying literacy levels; and exploring AI-driven automation of risk logs, test scripts, and test data generation. This work combines traditional assurance techniques with novel approaches to enhance the reliability and fairness of AI systems.

For years now the AIQCoP has relied on embedded Data Scientists from NHS England to help advise on the technical aspects of AI Assurance.

We have had a paper published on our research into using mixup augmentations in assurance of AI. Read our Mixup Assurance paper here on ArXiv

The investigations that started with Mixup have inspired a new method of peering into the black box of neural network classifiers. RISE is an experimental tool which can help assurers, data scientists and clinicians to evaluate Ai Classifiers, read more on the blog

Will and Ben at the Health and Care Analytics Conference talking about AI Assurance

Most information about the work in the Assurance Research Path appears on the AIQCoP sharepoint site, access may need to be requested to view.

AI Quality Community of Practice

Alternatively you can always email us at: nhsdigital.instant@nhs.net