The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has taken a significant step towards integrating artificial intelligence into its core operations. On Thursday, the department released a comprehensive 20-page strategy document, marking a "first step" in a broader plan to harness AI for greater efficiency and innovation across its vast divisions.
A Strategy for Modernisation and Efficiency
This new blueprint builds upon the Trump administration's proactive stance on adopting rapidly advancing technology. The strategy is largely focused on cutting through bureaucratic red tape and creating a coordinated approach to AI adoption. Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O'Neill set a bold tone in the document's introduction, stating, "For too long, our Department has been bogged down by bureaucracy and busy-work. It is time to tear down these barriers to progress and unite in our use of technology to Make America Healthy Again."
The plan encourages a "try-first" culture to enhance staff productivity. Earlier this year, HHS made the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT available to all its employees, signalling its commitment to embedding these tools in daily workflows. The strategy identifies five key pillars for moving forward:
- Establishing a governance structure to manage risks.
- Designing a suite of AI resources for department-wide use.
- Empowering employees to use AI tools effectively.
- Funding programs to set AI standards in research and development.
- Incorporating AI directly into public health and patient care systems.
Grand Ambitions and Inherent Risks
Beyond internal efficiency, the document outlines grander ambitions, including using AI to analyse patient health data and accelerate drug development. It reveals that HHS divisions are already working on projects to deliver personalised, context-aware health guidance to patients by securely accessing and interpreting their medical records in real time.
However, this enthusiasm is tempered by serious concerns about data protection. The strategy emerges in a context where the administration has repealed previous AI guardrails and seeks to remove federal barriers to the technology. Some members of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s own "Make America Healthy Again" movement have voiced discomfort with tech companies accessing personal health information. HHS also faced past criticism for sharing Medicaid recipients' data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Expert Analysis: Celebration with Caution
Experts acknowledge the potential while highlighting significant risks. Oren Etzioni, an AI expert and founder of a nonprofit fighting political deepfakes, called HHS's enthusiasm worth celebrating but warned against sacrificing safety for speed. "The HHS strategy lays out ambitious goals... but ambition brings risk when dealing with the most sensitive data Americans have: their health information," he said. He expressed doubt about whether rigorous scientific standards could be upheld under Kennedy's leadership.
Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center for Technology Innovation, pointed out that while the document promises stronger risk management, it lacks detailed execution plans. "There are a lot of unanswered questions about how sensitive medical information will be handled and the way data will be shared," West noted. He emphasised the need for clarity on balancing operational use of medical data with robust privacy protections for aggregated information analysed by AI.
Despite the concerns, West concluded that if implemented carefully, this initiative "could become a transformative example of a modernized agency that performs at a much higher level than before." The scale of the planned expansion is substantial: HHS reported having 271 active or planned AI implementations in the 2024 financial year, a number it projects will increase by 70% in 2025.
