AI and Public Health in India

AI is transforming healthcare in India, with applications ranging from clinical decision support and diagnostics to drug discovery and public health interventions. AI-enabled tools can transform overburdened healthcare systems by improving patient health outcomes while reducing costs and administrative burdens.

However, integration of AI into healthcare in India comes with significant risks, including:

• Bias in AI models, leading to unfair or unsafe outcomes.
• Lack of transparency, making it difficult to understand how AI decisions are made.
• Data privacy concerns, particularly around patient information.
• Accountability gaps, with no precise mechanisms to address AI failures.

In addition, AI risks vary across different use cases and stakeholders, making it essential to develop a structured, context-specific approach to responsible AI governance. Existing guidelines, such as those from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), provide high-level ethical principles but lack clear, practical and actionable guidance on risk assessment and mitigation.

Through this project, we seek to build a granular, adaptable risk assessment framework and suggest mitigation strategies that can be integrated within the Indian healthcare system. We will do this by:

• Mapping AI risks across different healthcare use cases and subsystems.
• Consulting key stakeholders, including clinicians, policymakers, AI developers, and public health institutions.
• Conducting case studies to analyse how AI risks materialise in real-world deployments.
• Developing a structured, actionable framework to guide responsible AI deployment.
• Providing best practices and risk mitigation strategies for healthcare institutions and AI developers.