Summary

AI deployment in healthcare potentially drives game-changing improvements for underserved communities and developing countries in general. From enabling community-health workers to better serve patients in remote rural areas to helping governments in developing countries prevent deadly disease outbreaks, there is growing recognition of the potential of AI tools to improve health access, quality, and cost.

However, the deployment of AI in resource-constrained settings has been surrounded by a lot of hype; and more research is needed on how to deploy best and effectively scale AI solutions in health systems across developing countries. It is challenging to take disruptive technology innovations from developed countries and replicate them to address the unique needs of the developing world.

The speech will identify both barriers to AI deployment at scale in developing countries and the types of regulatory and public policy actions that can best accelerate the appropriate use of AI to improve healthcare in developing countries' contexts. While AI technologies hold great potential for improving healthcare around the globe, these technologies cannot be considered a panacea for solving global health challenges. Adoption, acceleration, and use of AI should strengthen local health systems and be owned and driven by the needs and priorities of developing countries' governments and stakeholders to help them best serve their populations.