In her recent Academic Public Health Perspectives article, “Artificial Intelligence and Public Health: A Moment That Demands Leadership,” Dr. Laura Magaña, ASPPH’s President and CEO, makes clear that artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a distant or theoretical issue for public health. AI is already shaping how data is analyzed, how decisions are made, and how students are learning to navigate an increasingly technology-driven public health workforce, often at a pace faster than systems and policies are prepared to respond.

The central question before the field is not whether AI will influence public health, but whether public health will help shape how AI is developed, governed, and applied, or whether those decisions will be made without public health values at the table. Used responsibly, AI has the potential to strengthen surveillance, preparedness, research, and decision-making. Used without care or oversight, it can also reinforce bias, widen inequities, and erode public trust.

Academic public health plays a unique role in this moment by preparing the future workforce. Schools and programs of public health educate professionals who will evaluate AI tools, interpret their outputs, and apply them in ways that directly affect communities.

Through ASPPH’s AI for Public Health initiative and the forthcoming Task Force report on the Responsible and Ethical Use of AI in Public Health, ASPPH is supporting schools and programs in leading this work with intention, ethics, and equity at the center.

ASPPH thanks Dr. Ashish Joshi, Dean, University of Memphis School of Public Health, for chairing this important task force and all task force members for contributing their expertise. This is a moment for leadership, not hesitation, and academic public health is well-positioned to lead.