Artificial intelligence – NPHIs’ role in utilizing its opportunities and addressing the risks

Abstract

Abstract Issue & Problem National Public Health Institutes (NPHIs) in many countries are at the forefront of action to mitigate the impact of current and future threats to health as well as improving population health and wellbeing. Through research, collaboration, and support, NPHIs can approach these new realities together. One of the many emerging realities that NPHIs will need to engage in is how NPHIs best can utilise the powers of artificial intelligence and deal with the ethical and legal issues that come with it. Methods In preparation of IANPHI’s (International Association of National Public Health Institutes) Europe Regional network meeting in April 2024 a survey was conducted among the 42 members. 16 countries replied to questions, around e.g., 1) current applications of (generative) artificial intelligence (AI) in the work of institutes, 2) which experiences were made and 3) which measures NPHIs take to best utilize the possibilities and overcome challenges of AI technologies. Within four weeks 16 replies were shared. Lessons & Conclusions Some institutes have not yet adopted AI, while others report multiple applications but the primary areas of application vary considerably among Europe. Applications include summarizing and reformatting text; translation; transcribing and documenting meetings; search information in documents or databases; coding; creating visuals; literature review; surveillance of infectious diseases; disease forecasting; analysis of transmission dynamics; vaccine efficacy assessment and development; image recognition; diagnosis and prediction of diseases from medical datasets; text mining; symptom extraction; social listening; prediction of nitrate concentration in groundwater; drug analysis and measuring psychological resilience in social crisis. Key messages • AI poses opportunities and risks for public health and work of national public health institutes and capacity building initiatives are essential. • IANPHI decided to develop a joint framework for the use of AI in its member organisations with a focus on research and responsible use.