Global health and big data: The WHO’s artificial intelligence guidance

Abstract

Significance:
The growth and adoption of artificial intelligence tools and systems has the potential to transform health and wellness, even as this expansion raises challenging ethical issues, including data and privacy protection, appropriate uses and users, human rights concerns, and inequitable access. The WHO in 2020 committed to an 18-month process of guideline development, leading to the 2021 publication of the WHO’s Guidance on Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence for Health. The document identifies salient ethical principles, assesses a range of ethical issues and challenges, addresses governance strategies, and offers recommendations; it is apparently the first to offer global guidance.