Join our new working group – AI in Public Health!

Update, 25 November 2025: Our kickoff call is scheduled for Tuesday, 9 December 2025 at noon ET. You must join the working group to be added.

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Humane Intelligence nonprofit is excited to announce the launch of our new AI in Public Health working group! In partnership with Dr. Rumi Chunara and the Center for Health Data Science (CHDS) at New York University, this collaborative group will be an open forum for topical discussions and will explore the possibility of creating an AI public health fund. Anyone with a background in any of public health, AI, or data science is encouraged to join the working group. Fill out our contact form to get started.

Why this working group?

In recent years, academic institutions, private foundations, and venture capital-backed funds to support research and advance uses of AI in medical fields have increased precipitously. These funds support critical applications in AI for healthcare. A common example is using computer vision, a branch of AI / ML, in medical diagnostics, such as tumor or cataract detection. Generative AI has opened many new possibilities in pharmaceutical drug discovery, and in novel uses or combinations of existing medications. In the American medical insurance industry, AI is increasingly being adopted to streamline complex coverage decisions.

Public health refers to quality of life and health based on what happens in and outside of the hospital, often at the population level . As the world saw during COVID, medical health and public health go hand-in-hand to ensure people are healthy and safe. If a medical institution develops a life-saving treatment for a highly communicable disease, a public health institution ensures the treatment is widely accessible and usable. Unlike many forms of medical health patient case management, public health takes into account environmental externalities, policy decisions, nutrition, education, and disease spread and prevention.

While AI in medical health funds have seen tremendous growth in recent years, there are critical programmatic and funding gaps in AI and public health. To that aim, Humane Intelligence and NYU’s CHDS is excited to launch this working group. The initial goals of the working group will be two-fold: first, to create a collaborative and open space where working group members can discuss and research AI in public health topics, such as: 

• AI and social determinants of health, such as housing, food security, nutrition and education
• Contextual evaluations and evaluation frameworks, inclusive of those who are in low- and middle-income countries or settings
• New and novel uses of environmental data in AI for public health
• AI capacity building among public health practitioners

A second goal will be to explore the possibility of creating an AI public health fund, with an initial capitalization to support programmatic work and grantmaking. Working group members will have the opportunity to guide the working group’s topical focus, research and outputs, plus help shape the potential new AI public health fund, including scope and partner organizations.

Please fill out our contact form to join the working group or reach out to info@humane-intelligence.org with any questions. We will be in touch before the end of the year to schedule a kick off call. We look forward to working with you!

Note that all working group members agree to abide by our Code of Conduct.