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"AI's gonna have an impact on everything in society, so it has to have an impact on public health": a fundamental qualitative descriptive study of the implications of artificial intelligence for public health.
- Source :
- BMC Public Health; 1/6/2021, Vol. 21 Issue 1, p1-14, 14p, 1 Chart, 2 Graphs
- Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- <bold>Background: </bold>Our objective was to determine the impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) on public health practice.<bold>Methods: </bold>We used a fundamental qualitative descriptive study design, enrolling 15 experts in public health and AI from June 2018 until July 2019 who worked in North America and Asia. We conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews, iteratively coded the resulting transcripts, and analyzed the results thematically.<bold>Results: </bold>We developed 137 codes, from which nine themes emerged. The themes included opportunities such as leveraging big data and improving interventions; barriers to adoption such as confusion regarding AI's applicability, limited capacity, and poor data quality; and risks such as propagation of bias, exacerbation of inequity, hype, and poor regulation.<bold>Conclusions: </bold>Experts are cautiously optimistic about AI's impacts on public health practice, particularly for improving disease surveillance. However, they perceived substantial barriers, such as a lack of available expertise, and risks, including inadequate regulation. Therefore, investment and research into AI for public health practice would likely be beneficial. However, increased access to high-quality data, research and education regarding the limitations of AI, and development of rigorous regulation are necessary to realize these benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 14712458
- Volume :
- 21
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- BMC Public Health
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 147947638
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-10030-x