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Shipton L, Vitale L. Artificial intelligence and the politics of avoidance in global health. Soc Sci Med 2024; 359:117274. [PMID: 39217716 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2023] [Revised: 08/05/2024] [Accepted: 08/24/2024] [Indexed: 09/04/2024]
Abstract
For decades, global health actors have centered technology in their interventions. Today, artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as the latest technology-based solution in global health. Yet, AI, like other technological interventions, is not a comprehensive solution to the fundamental determinants of global health inequities. This article gathers and critically appraises grey and peer-reviewed literature on AI in global health to explore the question: What is avoided when global health prioritizes technological solutions to problems with deep-seated political, economic, and commercial determinants? Our literature search and selection yielded 34 documents, which we analyzed to develop seven areas where AI both continues and disrupts past legacies of technological interventions in global health, with significant implications for health equity and human rights. By focusing on the power dynamics that underpin AI's expansion in global health, we situate it as the latest in a long line of technological interventions that avoids addressing the fundamental determinants of health inequities, albeit at times differently than its technology-based predecessors. We call this phenomenon the 'politics of avoidance.' We conclude with reflections on how the literature we reviewed engages with and recognizes the politics of avoidance and with suggestions for future research, practice, and advocacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leah Shipton
- Department of Political Science, University of British Columbia, 1866 Main Mall C425, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1, Canada; School of Public Policy, Simon Fraser University, 515 West Hasting Street Office 3269, Vancouver, BC, V6B 5K3, Canada.
| | - Lucia Vitale
- Politics Department, University of California at Santa Cruz, 639 Merrill Rd, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, United States.
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Muralidharan V, Schamroth J, Youssef A, Celi LA, Daneshjou R. Applied artificial intelligence for global child health: Addressing biases and barriers. PLOS DIGITAL HEALTH 2024; 3:e0000583. [PMID: 39172772 PMCID: PMC11340888 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pdig.0000583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/24/2024]
Abstract
Given the potential benefits of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) within healthcare, it is critical to consider how these technologies can be deployed in pediatric research and practice. Currently, healthcare AI/ML has not yet adapted to the specific technical considerations related to pediatric data nor adequately addressed the specific vulnerabilities of children and young people (CYP) in relation to AI. While the greatest burden of disease in CYP is firmly concentrated in lower and middle-income countries (LMICs), existing applied pediatric AI/ML efforts are concentrated in a small number of high-income countries (HICs). In LMICs, use-cases remain primarily in the proof-of-concept stage. This narrative review identifies a number of intersecting challenges that pose barriers to effective AI/ML for CYP globally and explores the shifts needed to make progress across multiple domains. Child-specific technical considerations throughout the AI/ML lifecycle have been largely overlooked thus far, yet these can be critical to model effectiveness. Governance concerns are paramount, with suitable national and international frameworks and guidance required to enable the safe and responsible deployment of advanced technologies impacting the care of CYP and using their data. An ambitious vision for child health demands that the potential benefits of AI/Ml are realized universally through greater international collaboration, capacity building, strong oversight, and ultimately diffusing the AI/ML locus of power to empower researchers and clinicians globally. In order that AI/ML systems that do not exacerbate inequalities in pediatric care, teams researching and developing these technologies in LMICs must ensure that AI/ML research is inclusive of the needs and concerns of CYP and their caregivers. A broad, interdisciplinary, and human-centered approach to AI/ML is essential for developing tools for healthcare workers delivering care, such that the creation and deployment of ML is grounded in local systems, cultures, and clinical practice. Decisions to invest in developing and testing pediatric AI/ML in resource-constrained settings must always be part of a broader evaluation of the overall needs of a healthcare system, considering the critical building blocks underpinning effective, sustainable, and cost-efficient healthcare delivery for CYP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vijaytha Muralidharan
- Department of Dermatology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - Joel Schamroth
- Faculty of Population Health Sciences, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Alaa Youssef
- Stanford Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Imaging, Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - Leo A. Celi
- Laboratory for Computational Physiology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Roxana Daneshjou
- Department of Dermatology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
- Department of Biomedical Data Science, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
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Nunes MC, Thommes E, Fröhlich H, Flahault A, Arino J, Baguelin M, Biggerstaff M, Bizel-Bizellot G, Borchering R, Cacciapaglia G, Cauchemez S, Barbier--Chebbah A, Claussen C, Choirat C, Cojocaru M, Commaille-Chapus C, Hon C, Kong J, Lambert N, Lauer KB, Lehr T, Mahe C, Marechal V, Mebarki A, Moghadas S, Niehus R, Opatowski L, Parino F, Pruvost G, Schuppert A, Thiébaut R, Thomas-Bachli A, Viboud C, Wu J, Crépey P, Coudeville L. Redefining pandemic preparedness: Multidisciplinary insights from the CERP modelling workshop in infectious diseases, workshop report. Infect Dis Model 2024; 9:501-518. [PMID: 38445252 PMCID: PMC10912817 DOI: 10.1016/j.idm.2024.02.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2024] [Revised: 02/07/2024] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 03/07/2024] Open
Abstract
In July 2023, the Center of Excellence in Respiratory Pathogens organized a two-day workshop on infectious diseases modelling and the lessons learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic. This report summarizes the rich discussions that occurred during the workshop. The workshop participants discussed multisource data integration and highlighted the benefits of combining traditional surveillance with more novel data sources like mobility data, social media, and wastewater monitoring. Significant advancements were noted in the development of predictive models, with examples from various countries showcasing the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence in detecting and monitoring disease trends. The role of open collaboration between various stakeholders in modelling was stressed, advocating for the continuation of such partnerships beyond the pandemic. A major gap identified was the absence of a common international framework for data sharing, which is crucial for global pandemic preparedness. Overall, the workshop underscored the need for robust, adaptable modelling frameworks and the integration of different data sources and collaboration across sectors, as key elements in enhancing future pandemic response and preparedness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta C. Nunes
- Center of Excellence in Respiratory Pathogens (CERP), Hospices Civils de Lyon (HCL) and Centre International de Recherche en Infectiologie (CIRI), Équipe Santé Publique, Épidémiologie et Écologie Évolutive des Maladies Infectieuses (PHE3ID), Inserm U1111, CNRS UMR5308, ENS de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
- South African Medical Research Council, Vaccines & Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Edward Thommes
- New Products and Innovation (NPI), Sanofi Vaccines (Global), Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | - Holger Fröhlich
- Fraunhofer Institute for Algorithms and Scientific Computing (SCAI), Department of Bioinformatics, Schloss Birlinghoven, Sankt Augustin, Germany
- University of Bonn, Bonn-Aachen International Center for IT (b-it), Bonn, Germany
| | - Antoine Flahault
- Institute of Global Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland and Swiss School of Public Health, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Julien Arino
- Department of Mathematics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| | - Marc Baguelin
- MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK
- Centre for Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Matthew Biggerstaff
- National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Gaston Bizel-Bizellot
- Departement of Computational Biology, Departement of Global Health, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
| | - Rebecca Borchering
- National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Giacomo Cacciapaglia
- Institut de Physique des Deux Infinis de Lyon (IP2I), UMR5822, IN2P3/CNRS, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Simon Cauchemez
- Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases Unit, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, UMR2000 CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Alex Barbier--Chebbah
- Decision and Bayesian Computation, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 3571, France
| | - Carsten Claussen
- Fraunhofer-Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Christine Choirat
- Institute of Global Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Monica Cojocaru
- Mathematics & Statistics Department, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - Chitin Hon
- Respiratory Disease AI Laboratory on Epidemic Intelligence and Medical Big Data Instrument Applications, Department of Engineering Science, Faculty of Innovation Engineering, Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa, Macau, China
| | - Jude Kong
- Africa-Canada Artificial Intelligence and Data Innovation Consortium (ACADIC), Global South Artificial Intelligence for Pandemic and Epidemic Preparedness and Response Network (AI4PEP), Laboratory for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (LIAM), Department of Mathematics and Statistics, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | | | | | - Thorsten Lehr
- Clinical Pharmacy, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany
| | | | - Vincent Marechal
- Sorbonne Université, INSERM, Centre de Recherche Saint-Antoine, Paris, France
| | | | - Seyed Moghadas
- Agent-Based Modelling Laboratory, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Rene Niehus
- European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Lulla Opatowski
- UMR 1018, Team “Anti-infective Evasion and Pharmacoepidemiology”, Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, INSERM, France
- Epidemiology and Modelling of Antibiotic Evasion, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France
| | - Francesco Parino
- Sorbonne Université, INSERM, Pierre Louis Institute of Epidemiology and Public Health, Paris, France
| | | | - Andreas Schuppert
- Institute for Computational Biomedicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Rodolphe Thiébaut
- Bordeaux University, Department of Public Health, Inserm UMR 1219 Bordeaux Population Health Research Center, Inria SISTM, Bordeaux, France
| | | | - Cecile Viboud
- Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Jianhong Wu
- York Emergency Mitigation, Engagement, Response, and Governance Institute, Laboratory for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Pascal Crépey
- EHESP, Université de Rennes, CNRS, IEP Rennes, Arènes - UMR 6051, RSMS – Inserm U 1309, Rennes, France
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Leal Neto O, Von Wyl V. Digital Transformation of Public Health for Noncommunicable Diseases: Narrative Viewpoint of Challenges and Opportunities. JMIR Public Health Surveill 2024; 10:e49575. [PMID: 38271097 PMCID: PMC10853859 DOI: 10.2196/49575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2023] [Revised: 09/13/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2024] Open
Abstract
The recent SARS-CoV-2 pandemic underscored the effectiveness and rapid deployment of digital public health interventions, notably the digital proximity tracing apps, leveraging Bluetooth capabilities to trace and notify users about potential infection exposures. Backed by renowned organizations such as the World Health Organization and the European Union, digital proximity tracings showcased the promise of digital public health. As the world pivots from pandemic responses, it becomes imperative to address noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) that account for a vast majority of health care expenses and premature disability-adjusted life years lost. The narrative of digital transformation in the realm of NCD public health is distinct from infectious diseases. Public health, with its multifaceted approach from disciplines such as medicine, epidemiology, and psychology, focuses on promoting healthy living and choices through functions categorized as "Assessment," "Policy Development," "Resource Allocation," "Assurance," and "Access." The power of artificial intelligence (AI) in this digital transformation is noteworthy. AI can automate repetitive tasks, facilitating health care providers to prioritize personal interactions, especially those that cannot be digitalized like emotional support. Moreover, AI presents tools for individuals to be proactive in their health management. However, the human touch remains irreplaceable; AI serves as a companion guiding through the health care landscape. Digital evolution, while revolutionary, poses its own set of challenges. Issues of equity and access are at the forefront. Vulnerable populations, whether due to economic constraints, geographical barriers, or digital illiteracy, face the threat of being marginalized further. This transformation mandates an inclusive strategy, focusing on not amplifying existing health disparities but eliminating them. Population-level digital interventions in NCD prevention demand societal agreement. Policies, like smoking bans or sugar taxes, though effective, might affect those not directly benefiting. Hence, all involved parties, from policy makers to the public, should have a balanced perspective on the advantages, risks, and expenses of these digital shifts. For a successful digital shift in public health, especially concerning NCDs, AI's potential to enhance efficiency, effectiveness, user experience, and equity-the "quadruple aim"-is undeniable. However, it is vital that AI-driven initiatives in public health domains remain purposeful, offering improvements without compromising other objectives. The broader success of digital public health hinges on transparent benchmarks and criteria, ensuring maximum benefits without sidelining minorities or vulnerable groups. Especially in population-centric decisions, like resource allocation, AI's ability to avoid bias is paramount. Therefore, the continuous involvement of stakeholders, including patients and minority groups, remains pivotal in the progression of AI-integrated digital public health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Onicio Leal Neto
- Department of Computer Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Global Health Institute, Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States
| | - Viktor Von Wyl
- Institute for Implementation Science in Health Care, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Epidemiology, Biostatistics & Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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