Session Description
The session will explore how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is continuing to influence Health Impact Assessment (HIA). The session will reflect on how to retain core values and good practice of the past, so as to curate what AI picks uses when it supports new HIAs. Emerging practice will also be explored, for example the use of AI by communities to stress-testing HIAs for gaps and inconsistencies. This links back to the fundamental role of communities in HIA and is a novel powerful way they can be empowered, as typically developers have a near monopoly on technical experts. As a counterbalance, emerging issues also include AI misapplying information, causing community anxiety. Discussion will also consider how leveraging AI as part of HIA is an opportunity to better integrate different conceptions of ‘health’, to better relate findings to affected communities. For example, in New Zealand a Māori conceptual model of wellbeing is the ‘Te Pae Mahutonga’, also known as the Southern Cross constellation. The model of wellbeing uses each point of the constellation to describe an element of wellbeing. Bringing together the World Health Organization definition of health, which relates health to physical mental and social wellbeing, with the Te Pae Mahutonga model, is a powerful example of how HIA can integrate conceptions of health to bridge tradition and technical analysis, improving the value added by HIA. AI offers the opportunity to more readily identify and mainstream such opportunities, facilitating links between past and present practices to deliver more meaningful assessments for communities. This is a joint session of the Health and AI & Emerging Technology Sections.
Session Summary
Exploration of AI in Health Impact Assessment drawing on past best practice and future innovation to empower communities. Examples include community use of AI to level the playing field in access to technical expertise; and how use of AI could better integrate cultural and technical models of health (with a Māori example).
Additional Information
The session description provides examples of emerging issues for session panellists’ abstracts to cover, but submissions are welcomed on any aspect of the interaction or integration between AI and HIA. The opportunity to submit an abstract is open to all and will be publicised through both the Health and AI & Emerging Technology Sections.
Proposed By
Health and AI & Emerging Technology Sections
Session Chair
Ryngan Pyper
Logika Group
United Kingdom
Session Co-chair
Valentina Cavanna
Università degli Studi di Torino
Italy