Just as the Internet, email, and social media have transformed the way we work and live over the past 30 years, easily accessible AI tools are rapidly changing our professional and personal lives. Just as with social media and the Internet generally, the specific impacts will be shaped by the choices we make and our ability to leverage new technologies to maximize benefits and reduce risks.
Consider some of the opportunities and risks we’re seeing now:
Opportunities for AI in Health Communication
- Targeted messaging: Through sophisticated algorithms, AI can analyze vast amounts of data that can help communicators tailor and personalize communications. To measure the effectiveness of outreach campaigns, AI-driven analytics may provide insights into audience preferences, engagement metrics, and communication effectiveness, enabling communicators to make informed decisions about messaging strategies.
- Real-time monitoring: AI-powered surveillance systems can enable real-time monitoring of public health indicators, such as disease prevalence, vaccination rates, and health care utilization. They can even use predictive analytics to anticipate public health needs. The ability to analyze data from a vast number of sources can help public health communicators proactively develop strategies to address emerging health concerns and allocate resources effectively.
- Automation of routine tasks: As in other professional fields, AI technologies can automate repetitive tasks such as data analysis, content creation, and dissemination. This automation can free up valuable time for public health professionals to focus on strategic initiatives, policy development, and community outreach efforts.
- Improved accessibility: AI-powered language translation tools can facilitate multilingual communication, making health information accessible for diverse populations. Additionally, voice-based AI assistants can improve access to vital health resources and services for individuals with disabilities or limited literacy skills.
- Enhanced engagement: Interactive chatbots and virtual assistants powered by AI offer opportunities for real-time engagement with the public. An example is Emma, a chatbot the U.S. Department of Homeland Security created to answer questions about immigration and citizenship. These platforms can provide instant responses to basic inquiries and disseminate timely information, which can improve engagement between organizations and the people they serve.
Risks of Using AI for Health Communication
- Privacy concerns: The collection and analysis of personal health data by AI systems — protected health information as well as unprotected data from mobile health trackers, Internet searches, social media activity, and shopping history — raise significant privacy concerns. Public health executives must ensure compliance with regulations to protect data and implement robust security measures to safeguard sensitive information from unauthorized access or misuse.
- Bias: AI algorithms may perpetuate bias and discrimination when they are based upon data from sources or systematic approaches that are inherently biased. Flawed and incomplete datasets or algorithms could create or exacerbate disparities in health communication and inequities in access to care. Because most resources have been going toward English-language tools, translation may be flawed. Public health executives must prioritize equity and fairness when deploying AI solutions and regularly audit algorithms to mitigate bias.
- Questions about accuracy and authenticity: Overreliance on AI technologies may lead to inaccurate, unsourced, or outdated information and undermine human judgment and interpersonal communication skills. Public health professionals must strike a balance between leveraging AI tools and maintaining human oversight to ensure ethical decision-making and transparent engagement with the public.
- Misinformation and misinterpretation: AI-generated content and automated responses may inadvertently spread misinformation or be misinterpreted by audiences. For example, New York City’s “MyCity” chatbot has been found to generate inaccurate legal advice in areas like housing policy, labor laws, and consumer rights. Public health executives must implement rigorous quality control measures and provide clear guidelines for AI usage to prevent the dissemination of inaccurate or misleading information.
- Technical challenges: Deploying and maintaining AI systems requires ongoing specialized expertise and resources. Public health agencies may encounter technical challenges such as data integration issues, system interoperability, and algorithmic complexity. Investing in staff training and collaborating with AI experts can help mitigate these challenges and maximize the effectiveness of AI-enabled communication strategies.
Public health leaders can respond to these challenges and opportunities by exploring the potential impact of AI, preparing for potential risks, and finding ways that AI can improve their services and strengthen their communities.
Numerous efforts are tracking and guiding the effective use of AI, including executive guidance for state government agencies, insights from communications leaders across industries, and exploration of the ethical use of AI in public relations. In health communication, much of the focus to date has been about AI in health care, but this year the Analysis and Response Toolkit for Trust (ARTT) project and the National Public Health Information Coalition (NPHIC) brought together a working group that is developing practical guidelines or best practices for the ethical use of AI in public health communication.
As leaders continue to explore these evolving technologies, they can take several practical steps to prepare within their organizations.
Practical Steps for Public Health Leaders
1. Build awareness and expertise: Lead by demonstrating your commitment and enthusiasm about exploring AI’s potential to improve your organization’s operations and impact. Solicit input from your employees about ways AI can enhance their efficiency and effectiveness and set priorities for your initial steps. Also tap into the expertise and perspectives of external stakeholders and consider pursuing collaborations with technology companies, academic institutions, and community organizations.
2. Establish governance policies: Bring together communications professionals, data specialists, community educators, IT professionals, and other relevant staff and partners to develop clear policies and procedures for data collection, storage, and usage to ensure compliance with privacy regulations and ethical standards. Include standards for when and how to disclose the use of AI.
3. Address ethical concerns and prioritize equity and inclusion: Ethical considerations — including transparency, privacy, accountability, and respect for individual autonomy — should guide the development and deployment of AI technologies for health communication. Engage diverse stakeholders to ensure that AI-enabled communication initiatives uphold ethical principles and promote public trust.
4. Think big, but start small: After identifying potential opportunities, encourage your staff to pilot a few applications that are low-cost and low-risk, and ensure that these trials follow the governance policies you’ve set. Implement monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to assess the impact of AI-driven communication efforts on public awareness, behavior change, health outcomes, or other measures.
5. Invest in staff training: Provide training and professional development opportunities for communication staff and other employees to enhance their AI literacy and technical skills. Even if you decide to not use AI widely, staff should understand the basics of artificial intelligence and how it influences the information they and community members access and create.
AI presents unprecedented opportunities for public health executives to enhance communication effectiveness, engage diverse audiences, and address complex health problems. By carefully considering the challenges of AI usage, identifying opportunities for improvement, and taking practical steps to leverage AI responsibly, public health agencies can maximize the potential of AI to advance health outcomes in their communities.
This column first appeared in the July/August 2024 issue of the Journal of Public Health Management & Practice. See the final authenticated version.
