International Study Reveals Sex and Age Biases in AI Models for Skin Disease Diagnosis

An international research team led by Assistant Professor Zhiyu Wan from ShanghaiTech University has recently published groundbreaking findings in the journal Health Data Science, highlighting biases in multimodal large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT-4 and LLaVA in diagnosing skin diseases from medical images. The study systematically evaluated these AI models across different sex and age groups.

Utilizing approximately 10,000 dermatoscopic images, the study focused on three common skin diseases: melanoma, melanocytic nevi, and benign keratosis-like lesions. Results revealed that while ChatGPT-4 and LLaVA outperformed most traditional deep learning models overall, ChatGPT-4 showed greater fairness across demographic groups, whereas LLaVA exhibited significant sex-related biases.

Dr. Wan emphasized, "While large language models like ChatGPT-4 and LLaVA demonstrate clear potential in dermatology, we must address the observed biases, particularly across sex and age groups, to ensure these technologies are safe and effective for all patients."

The team plans further research incorporating additional demographic variables like skin tone to comprehensively evaluate the fairness and reliability of AI models in clinical scenarios. This research provides critical guidance for developing more equitable and trustworthy medical AI systems.

Wan Z, Guo Y, Bao S, Wang Q, Malin BA.
Evaluating Sex and Age Biases in Multimodal Large Language Models for Skin Disease Identification from Dermatoscopic Images.
Health Data Sci. 2025 Apr 1;5:0256. doi: 10.34133/hds.0256

Most Popular Now

Alcidion Grows Top Talent in the UK, wit…

Alcidion has today announced the addition of three new appointments to their UK-based team, with one internal promotion and two external recruits. Dr Paul Deffley has been announced as the...

New Training Year Starts at Siemens Heal…

In September, 197 school graduates will start their vocational training or dual studies in Germany at Siemens Healthineers. 117 apprentices and 80 dual students will begin their careers at Siemens...

New AI Tool Addresses Accuracy and Fairn…

A team of researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has developed a new method to identify and reduce biases in datasets used to train machine-learning algorithms...

Are You Eligible for a Clinical Trial? C…

A new study in the academic journal Machine Learning: Health discovers that ChatGPT can accelerate patient screening for clinical trials, showing promise in reducing delays and improving trial success rates. Researchers...

Global Study Reveals How Patients View M…

How physicians feel about artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine has been studied many times. But what do patients think? A team led by researchers at the Technical University of Munich...

Digital ECGs at Barts Health: A High-Imp…

Opinion Article by Dr Krishnaraj Sinhji Rathod, consultant in interventional cardiology, Barts Health NHS Trust. Picture the moment. A patient in an ambulance, enroute to hospital with new chest pain. Paramedics...

International Study Reveals Sex and Age …

An international research team led by Assistant Professor Zhiyu Wan from ShanghaiTech University has recently published groundbreaking findings in the journal Health Data Science, highlighting biases in multimodal large language...

Study Sheds Light on Hurdles Faced in Tr…

Implementing artificial intelligence (AI) into NHS hospitals is far harder than initially anticipated, with complications around governance, contracts, data collection, harmonisation with old IT systems, finding the right AI tools...

Using Deep Learning for Precision Cancer…

Altuna Akalin and his team at the Max Delbrück Center have developed a new tool to more precisely guide cancer treatment. Described in a paper published in Nature Communications, the...

New AI Approach Paves Way for Smarter T-…

Researchers have harnessed the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to tackle one of the most complex challenges in immunology: predicting how T cells recognize and respond to specific peptide antigens...

Study Used AI Models to Improve Predicti…

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a complex condition marked by a gradual decline in kidney function, which can ultimately progress to end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Globally, the prevalence of the...