As the Texas Legislature considers new regulatory framework for artificial intelligence (AI) heading into the 2025 session, Texas Medical Association leaders are acting to ensure physicians’ knowledge and decision-making are integrated with the technology and not replaced by it.
AI is one of nearly 60 House and 60 Senate priorities for the next session announced by House Speaker Dade Phelan and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick this past spring. As part of these interim charges, the Texas Senate seeks what it dubs a “responsible regulatory framework for AI development,” and is looking for information from the Texas Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council that Gov. Greg Abbott established last year.
In response, TMA Council on Legislation Chair Zeke Silva, MD, testified before the Senate Committee on Budget and Commerce on Aug. 27 to give voice to TMA’s principles for use of the technology in health care.
Physicians generally embrace the use of AI, but “health care is different than other industries,” the San Antonio radiologist told the committee during live testimony. “Our accountability in the outcomes of our decisions and the decisions influenced by AI are greater than other industries, often times literally life or death, but also potentially affecting patient outcomes, patient well-being, and even public health.”
Dr. Silva, who has been studying the use of AI in medicine since 2017, elaborated in written testimony, saying physicians “understand that the integration of AI into clinical practice is an opportunity to optimize, enhance, and advance patient care and safety.”
He cited case uses such as summarizing journal articles and patient medical records to illustrate how AI is especially helpful in its ability to “reduce burden” for physicians and shorten timeframes for research thanks to its data-analyzing capacities.
At the same time, Dr. Silva cautioned lawmakers: “It is important that a physician’s training, knowledge, and experience are used to validate AI suggestions and recommendations.” He also expressed concern about keeping patient information private whenever AI tools are used.
Dr. Silva’s oral and written testimony also highlighted a key distinction central to TMA’s official policy on AI, offering the term “augmented intelligence” as a preferred alternative to the more commonplace variant “artificial intelligence.” TMA policy states, “Augmented intelligence, whether assistive or fully autonomous, is intended to co-exist with human decision-making and should not be used to replace physician reasoning and knowledge.”
The state hearings follow TMA’s work on AI policy at the national level. In June, the Texas Delegation to the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates forwarded a resolution on AI that, along with similar ones from other states, resulted in the creation of an AMA Artificial Intelligence Task Force to evaluate and guide physicians on the evolving technology.
TMA is keeping a close watch on various topics on the Texas Legislature’s interim charges list, including scope-of-practice creep and access to mental health care. For the latest, visit TMA’s advocacy webpage.
Check out TMA’s free webinar for members on how to integrate augmented intelligence into patient care.
Phil West
Associate Editor
(512) 370-1394
phil.west[at]texmed[dot]org
Phil West is a writer and editor whose publications include the Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times, Austin American-Statesman, and San Antonio Express-News. He earned a BA in journalism from the University of Washington and an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin’s James A. Michener Center for Writers. He lives in Austin with his wife, children, and a trio of free-spirited dogs.