New Annual Community Theme Launch: “AI in Global Health – A Double-Edged Sword”
Artificial intelligence promises breakthroughs in global health but can it deliver without reinforcing inequality or introducing new risks? This is the question the Global Health Hub Germany’s Communities will explore this year.
A new cross-community Working Group on “AI in Global Health – A Double-Edged Sword” is launching this September. The initiative brings together interested members from across all 13 Global Health Hub Communities to collaboratively explore the dual potential of Artificial Intelligence in global health – its promises and its pitfalls.
Why this theme – and why now?
AI is rapidly reshaping global health: it is being used to detect disease outbreaks, support diagnostics, manage supply chains, and strengthen health systems. But at the same time, it raises pressing concerns around bias, data governance, dependency, and unequal access – particularly in low-resource settings.
As one recent study puts it, AI in healthcare “offers significant potential, but risks undermining clinical autonomy and patient trust if deployed without proper guardrails” (BMC, 2025).
A scoping review published in Frontiers in Public Health emphasizes the need for “locally grounded, equity-oriented innovation” to ensure that AI actually benefits populations in the Global South (PMC, 2025).
What the Working Group will focus on
This year's theme will be explored through community-led discussions, collaborative events, and a joint output presentation in summer 2026. The focus will lie on:
- Opportunities: How can AI improve health outcomes, access, and system resilience?
- Challenges: What risks and ethical dilemmas does it pose for global health equity?
Each community member – from planetary health and One Health to mental health, digital health, and gender – can contribute with his/her specific lens and expertise.
Get involved – join the Collaboration Space
We invite all interested Hub members to contribute to this working process.
You will find the event listing and working group space on our
👉 Collaboration Space.
Kick-off Workshop:
📅 Date: Tuesday, 2 September 2025
⏰ Time: 08:30–09:30 CEST
💻 Format: Online
You would like to dive in already? Start here.
If you are curious to explore the topic before the kick-off, these recent studies offer a great starting point:
- “Artificial Intelligence for Healthcare: Restrained Development or Inevitable Revolution?”
A BMC study on clinical decision-making, bias, and the future of medical autonomy
Read the article → - “Can Artificial Intelligence Revolutionize Healthcare in the Global South?”
A scoping review highlighting challenges in infrastructure, governance, and ethics
Read more → - “AI for Public Health Surveillance in Africa”
Practical insights from recent applications of AI for disease monitoring
Read more → - “AI in Public Health: Promises, Challenges, and Equity” – The Lancet Public Health
Full text → - Stanford Report: “Can Generative AI Tackle Global Health Problems?”
Exploring the role of large language models in LMICs
Article →
Full report →
Looking back: What came out of last year’s theme?
If you are interested in how cross-community collaboration has worked in the past, we invite you to explore the outcomes of the 2024/2025 Annual Theme: “Global Health in Conflict Settings”:
👉 Read more