Generative AI at VUMC

Background and Restrictions on Use of Publicly Available AI Tools

Recently released generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools, like OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's BARD, and others have the potential to change the way we do many of our daily work tasks, and they might even help us improve clinical care, operational efficiency, and advance research. While enthusiasm for these publicly available tools is understandable, they also have limitations and pose risks to organizations like VUMC. As such, VUMC policies forbid the sharing of VUMC data with third parties, including companies that provide access to such tools. Therefore, no VUMC-derived data of any kind should be shared (e.g. manually entered, via APIs, etc.) with public-facing AI tools, including, but not limited to:

• VUMC patient or clinical data of any kind, including de-identified patient data
• VUMC research data
• Proprietary VUMC operational data
• Intellectual property of any kind owned by the institution or its employees

VUMC Generative AI Tools Available for Use

Proprietary VUMC data, including clinical data, may be used with the VUMC Generative AI Tools listed below. All existing compliance regulations and health information policies continue to apply. 

• VUMC aiChat Tool (*requires VUMC network or VPN connection*)

• VUMC aiChat User Interface:
  • This is a simple version of a VUMC-managed AI Chat Tool that is similar to the one that is publicly available on the OpenAI Website for general public use. 
  • This tool should still be considered a Beta version - meaning that may not function perfectly, and is still in testing mode. However, we have conducted preliminary testing and feel it is ready for use at VUMC.
  • Given this tool is still a Beta version, our team is collecting feedback and will plan for subsequent improvements. We welcome feedback using the tool linked from the aiChat page once you log in.
  • This tool is only accessible from within the VUMC network, or via VPN connection to it. 
  • This tool currently uses Version GPT-4 and aligns with VUMC health information policy standards. 
  • As noted in the terms and conditions, while this is appropriate for VUMC internal use, certain limitations still exist:
    • Users should not use information derived from the service to inform clinical care
    • Users understand that the responses provided by the service have not been validated, so exercise caution
    • User prompts and responses may be reviewed within VUMC for the purpose of improving and tuning the service
    • Users will not leverage the aiChat service to run automated workflow (see VUMC Open AI Studio)

• VUMC Open AI Studio Subscription - Microsoft's Generative AI Studio with Application Programming Interface (API): 
  • Access to additional VUMC-Managed Generative AI tools is available on the Azure OpenAI cloud-based platform. These tools can now use both GPT version 3.5 and 4. To register to use these tools for research, please fill out this registration form. If you have any questions, please email victrbigdata@vumc.org. More information on the tools below: 
    • Azure OpenAI Studio - a web interface for developing and deploying AI models which includes a range of tools and services to assist in building and training machine learning and natural language processing models. The platform provides collaborative workspaces and supports various programming languages and frameworks. 
    • Azure OpenAI API - an application programming interface that provides access to the OpenAI's natural language processing tools and machine learning models. Models can be easily adapted. Access is through REST APIs. 

Generative AI Tools & Capabilities Under Development

More advanced VUMC-Managed Generative AI Tools are under exploration and consideration for release to the VUMC community. Please check back for updates. Once these and other tools are ready for use, more details will follow related to approval processes and cost structures for research and operational uses of such tools.