Beyond the Algorithm: Building Trustworthy, Fair, and Useful AI in Health and Higher Education

Samuel Kakraba, PhD, MS, B.Ed. Assistant Professor of Biostatistics and Data Science and Senior Advisor for Health Data Science Engagement at Tulane University Artificial intelligence is increasingly influencing healthcare, research, and education, but high accuracy alone does not make an AI system trustworthy or fair. This Spark Talk explores three questions: How do we know an AI model is reliable? How do we know it works equitably across communities? And what can higher education learn from healthcare’s use of AI? Using accessible examples from public-health surveillance, drug discovery, cancer prediction, and mental-health research, participants will examine how AI systems can be tested, explained, and used responsibly. No technical background is required.