FDA employees report the agency's new AI assistant produces incorrect answers and lacks essential safeguards. (Shutterstock)
Share
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Food and Drug Administration launched Elsa, an artificial intelligence assistant, on Monday to mixed reviews from employees who describe the tool as premature and error-prone.
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary touted the swift deployment, stating, “I set an aggressive timeline to scale AI agency-wide by June 30. Today’s rollout of Elsa is ahead of schedule and under budget, thanks to the collaboration of our in-house experts across the centers.”
The generative AI system aims to streamline clinical protocol reviews, scientific evaluations and inspection targeting. FDA Chief AI Officer Jeremy Walsh proclaimed, “Today marks the dawn of the AI era at the FDA. (W)ith the release of Elsa, AI is no longer a distant promise but a dynamic force enhancing and optimizing the performance and potential of every employee.”
Internal Skepticism Surfaces
Testing showed major flaws when staff queried Elsa about FDA-approved products Monday, receiving incorrect or partially wrong responses, NBC News reported.
“Makary and DOGE think AI can replace staff and cut review times, but it decidedly cannot,” one employee told Stat news. Another staffer expressed concern about missing safeguards: “I’m not sure in their rush to get it out that anyone is thinking through policy and use.”
Built on Anthropic’s Claude technology by Deloitte, the system cost $13.8 million since 2020, with an additional $14.7 million contract awarded in April. The tool evolved from individual center pilots, with CDER-GPT selected for agency-wide expansion and rebranding as Elsa.
Read more at Ars Technica
RELATED TOPICS:
Ukrainian Attack Damaged 10% of Russia’s Strategic Bombers, Germany Says
4 hours ago
Why Reforming California’s Bedrock Environmental Law Is Good for the Environment
9 hours ago
Sinner Bids for His First French Open Title Against Defending Champion Alcaraz
10 hours ago
Coco Gauff Defeats Top-Ranked Aryna Sabalenka in 3 Sets to Win Her First French Open Title
10 hours ago
Texas Beats Texas Tech in 3rd Game of WCWS to Win Its 1st National Championship
10 hours ago
Conforto Comes Through, Dodgers Rally in 8th for Victory Abetted by Mets Mishap
10 hours ago
Giants Beat the Slumping Braves in 10 Innings on a Wild Pitch
10 hours ago
Trans Troops, Facing a Deadline, Opt to Stay and Fight the Ban
12 hours ago
Can This 14-Year-Old Football Star Become a High School Millionaire?
12 hours ago
Trump Says Musk Relationship Over, Warns of ‘Serious Consequences’ if He Funds Democrats
3 hours ago
Categories

Trump Says Musk Relationship Over, Warns of ‘Serious Consequences’ if He Funds Democrats

Trump Has Options to Punish Musk Even if His Federal Contracts Continue

Ukrainian Attack Damaged 10% of Russia’s Strategic Bombers, Germany Says

Why Reforming California’s Bedrock Environmental Law Is Good for the Environment

Sinner Bids for His First French Open Title Against Defending Champion Alcaraz

Coco Gauff Defeats Top-Ranked Aryna Sabalenka in 3 Sets to Win Her First French Open Title
