The U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health ( ARPA-H) is looking for insights on the potential applications of AI Agents in the healthcare sector.

The ARPA-H seeks to advance its understanding of the Agentic AI landscape to aid ARPA-H in setting strategic direction for its research and development initiatives leveraging Agentic AI to improve health outcomes,  it said in a Request for Information (RFI) posted to SAM.gov.

The request for information is based on three assumptions – agency is the natural evolution of AI; current autonomous AI is mainly used in low-stakes tasks; and lastly, advances in agentic AI will enhance healthcare and relieve pressure on professionals.

The RFI contains questions regarding the following topic areas: 

• Implementation of Agents 

• Multi-Agentic AI

• Accessibility of existing Agents  

• Interoperability and Interacting Agents 

• Protocols for Interacting Agents

• Assurance and Trustworthiness 

• Robustness (i.e. performance, security, privacy, taskability, self-behavior modeling/updating) 

• Scalability

• Autonomy 

• Risks

Interested parties can submit their response to the RFI (75N992-25-RFI-106) by 4:00 PM ET on November 29, 2024.

Earlier this year, ARPA-H awarded a contract worth $19 million to Palantir Technologies to support the agency’s mission to accelerate better health outcomes. The contract is for two years.

Palantir’s AIP and Foundry software will support the agency in optimizing workflows by establishing a robust data strategy and infrastructure. This foundation will enhance operational efficiency and facilitate ongoing enhancements.