ASCO’s Communities of Practice offer oncology professionals opportunities to connect and engage around shared areas of interest. To date, ASCO has established 16 Communities of Practice focused on topics including Cancer Care for Veterans, LGBTQ+ Care, Palliative Care, and more. Each Community of Practice also has the opportunity to gather in person during the 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting.  

The Artificial Intelligence Community of Practice is one such growing community, bringing together individuals who are deeply invested in developing and using AI alongside those looking to learn more about the emerging technology.  

Community of Practice Champion Caroline Chung, MD, MSc, FRCPC, CIP, who is a Professor of Radiation Oncology and Diagnostic Imaging and Co-Director of the Institute for Data Science in Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center, hopes to grow the community by bringing together oncology professionals across the full spectrum of AI literacy to foster more meaningful dialogue, innovation, and mutual learning. 

In an interview with ASCO AI in Oncology, Dr. Chung discusses the purpose and focus of the AI Community of Practice and explains why other oncology professionals should join this growing community.  

Could you tell me about the AI Community of Practice as a whole? Is there a typical level of AI knowledge among members? 

The AI Community of Practice is open to anyone interested in learning more about AI. Some members may be completely new to the technology and just beginning to explore it, while others are actively developing models and fully immersed in the field. So it's a big range. 

The beauty of that diversity is that it allows for organic dialogue and mutual learning. Those who are developing AI models need to consider how usable they will be by receiving feedback from those who are new to the technology, and at the same time new learners can engage in conversations with experts in the field. That creates an opportunity for truly bidirectional learning to elevate the depth and breadth of expertise across the Community. 

How has the AI Community of Practice grown in recent years? 

The growth rate has been incredibly inspiring, which is not surprising given the enthusiasm and pace of advances in the technology. Our in-person meetings have scaled up exponentially. This year, we hope to see even further growth and engagement. We would love to have standing room–only attendance at the AI Community of Practice meeting taking place on Sunday, May 31 from 4:30 to 6:00 PM in Room S103 of McCormick Place. 

Why should oncology professionals consider joining the AI Community of Practice? 

AI is a technology that’s going to affect individuals in medicine and oncology, and this community is a great place to engage in learning and grow one’s exposure, knowledge, and experience with AI. We are all learning how best to utilize and find value while mitigating risk in this rapidly evolving technology in cancer care and research, and across the health-care system.

I will note that AI means different things to different people. More recently, many have started to equate AI with large language models, but there are a number of different kinds of AI. As you become more involved in the Community and learn more about the field, you realize there's a whole spectrum of technologies that fall under the umbrella of “AI.” It can include everything from machine learning to generative and foundational models. 

Learning across that spectrum is incredibly important so that you can safely and effectively use the technology to improve day-to-day workflows, enhance patient care, and potentially strengthen research efforts while also being aware of the risks, safeguards, and mitigation factors to protect your data, your thought processes, and your decision-making. So there are many reasons why joining the Community can be valuable.

If you're an early learner, you’ll meet others who are on that same learning journey while also connecting with experts who can answer more in-depth questions and provide guidance regarding reliable learning resources.  

If you’re already an expert and actively exploring or developing this kind of technology, you can connect with others on a similar path while also learning from those approaching the technology from an early-adopter perspective.  

What inspired you to join the AI Community of Practice? 

I joined because I think that with any new technology, it’s important to consider a broad range of perspectives, and I wanted to contribute to building up the community. 

Some individuals are highly enthusiastic and eager to be early adopters and push the technology forward, while others join because they have genuine concerns about the risks and uncertainties associated with AI. 

I fall somewhere in the middle. I am excited about the promise of the technology but realize there are many aspects that are not yet understood, such as the effects of AI on human cognition and thought processes, and other aspects that have not yet been addressed, such as ethics and regulations. Having an open dialogue across the Community has resulted in good, candid conversations on where we can actually take the technology moving forward responsibly and safely. 

My goal as Community Champion this year, and the reason why I joined the Community, is to help foster this necessary open dialogue and encourage mutual learning. I also wanted to help us grow as a field and as an area of medicine that is challenged with complex, large-scale data, where AI has tremendous potential to be helpful. 

Figuring out how we can move the field forward in a constructive, positive, safe, and responsible way is something that really motivated me to join the Community. 

How is the Community of Practice structured, and how often do members meet? 

At this early point, the Community has evolved relatively organically. We have the in-person meeting at the ASCO Annual Meeting, active discussions on the AI Community of Practice discussion board, and we’ve hosted several webinars motivated by Community members. This is where I would encourage those who are interested in joining the Community, or who are already members, to contribute ideas, take initiative, and participate. We’ve taken a very organic approach, inviting members to bring forward ideas and interests. If you have an idea, come to us and we will help bring your idea to life. 

We have aimed to have at least two or three webinars during the year in addition to the discussion board, but I would love to see more engagement from the Community to help make these happen. The webinars we have had already have ranged from presentation style to panels of individuals sharing their experiences along with very practical conversations that are hard to come by—again reinforcing the really helpful mutual learning.

Over the past year, how has the AI Community of Practice influenced the broader oncology community? 

Members of the Community of Practice have been amazing champions and advocates, dedicating time and expertise to provide informed reviews of abstracts on AI topics, and proposing special sessions as part of the scientific program. Again, I would encourage those in this Community or those interested in joining to speak up and we can collectively work to address the needs of the growing community. We can definitely plan ahead for next year.

Another benefit of joining the Community has been the opportunity to network and find collaborators, as well as getting brought into a list of individuals who may be invited to speak on certain topics. For those interested in these kinds of opportunities, joining the Community can open up doors and make you aware of other meetings that you might not otherwise have heard about. 

At this year's Annual Meeting, why were these particular lightning presentations selected for the Community of Practice meeting? 

We originally had a much longer list of potential lightning presentations. The selected topics reflected areas that Community members had been particularly interested in discussing on the discussion board, as well as topics we knew were gaining momentum and becoming increasingly important. These were subjects that those working closely in the field felt the broader Community should be hearing about. 

There are only so many minutes available in a meeting, so we ultimately prioritized the top eight topics and presented them as brief, 5-minute lightning talks. Our hope is that these presentations will spark additional engagement on the Community of Practice discussion board. Some of these topics could easily be expanded into future webinars, creating opportunities for Community members to explore them in greater depth and continue the conversation moving forward. 

What do you hope attendees take away from this year’s in-person AI Community of Practice meeting at the 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting? 

First, I hope to see continued growth of the Community, which is important. Second, I hope to engage members who are interested in contributing to Community activities, whether proposing webinars or submissions for special ASCO program sessions. These may be at the ASCO Annual Meeting or other subspecialty meetings where AI has become a growing topic of interest.

While we haven't done it yet, we have discussed the possibility of writing specific white papers, review papers, or guidance documents as a Community of Practice. 

There are already a lot of publications and white papers on AI, so we don't want to contribute more content unless we believe it will add real value. However, there could be some unique offerings that can blossom from this Community that would benefit the broader ASCO community.

ASCO AI in Oncology is published by Conexiant under a license arrangement with the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO^®). The ideas and opinions expressed in ASCO AI in Oncology do not necessarily reflect those of Conexiant or ASCO. For more information, see Policies.