The World Health Organization (WHO) defines artificial intelligence (AI) as the capability of computer algorithms to learn from data and perform automated tasks, and works to establish global safety, ethics, and governance rules for its use in public health and medical care.
Core Goals of WHO on AI:
- Safe and Ethical Use: Creating clear rules to protect human well-being, safety, and human rights during medical care.
- Global Equity: Making sure new digital tools help people in all countries equally, rather than leaving poorer regions behind.
- Risk Management: Stopping problems like data bias, unfair discrimination, and privacy loss.
Main Focus Areas:
- Health Policy Guidance: Advising countries on how to safely use AI to make better health choices.
- Large Multi-Modal Models: Setting standards for advanced generative AI that handles text, images, and video in medical research.
- Transparent Regulation: Helping local governments build rules so technology development matches public health needs.
The World Health Organization (WHO) outlines six core ethical principles in its official guidance for artificial intelligence in healthcare. These are the followings:
- Protecting human autonomy: Humans must remain in control of medical decisions. AI systems should not take away patient choice or personal agency.
- Promoting human well-being, safety, and the public interest: AI tools must prevent harm, meet strict safety rules, and work to improve health for everyone.
- Ensuring transparency, explainability, and intelligibility: The design and logic of AI must be clear and easy to understand for doctors, patients, and regulators.
- Fostering responsibility and accountability: Clear rules must show who is responsible if an AI tool makes a mistake or causes harm.
- Ensuring inclusiveness and equity: AI must be open and fair for all people, no matter their age, race, gender, or income, avoiding bias.
- Promoting AI that is responsive and sustainable: AI systems must be carefully checked during real use to see if they work properly, while also being energy-efficient and protecting the environment.
You can read the full document here. The original document was pubished in June 2021 but artificial intelligence changes rapidly, therefore the organisation needs to update regularly the policies and principles. The latest document prepared by the WHO in June 2026 aims to discuss the opportunities and risks of AI in evidence-based health policy.
