At the Black Women’s Health Imperative, we’re clear on this: AI isn’t just a technology issue. It’s a matter of health justice. That’s why artificial intelligence and emerging technologies are our mainstay National Health Policy Agenda. As these tools become more integrated into health care, insurance systems, and public health decision-making, the risks and benefits are not evenly distributed.
With the release of tools like ChatGPT Healthartificial intelligence is increasingly positioned as a trusted source for medical information, decision support and patient engagement. These tools promise efficiency and access, but they also raise pressing questions about oversight, data integrity, and who is protected as AI becomes more deeply embedded in healthcare.
Dr. Uché Blackstockphysician, best-selling author and leading national voice for health equity, recently shared her concerns directly with the Black Women’s Health Imperative following the announcement.
“My concern is the extent to which AI has not been regulated so far,” he wrote. “Without guardrails in place, there is a real potential for harm, especially if there is no appreciation of how biased a data set is or who is included in it. That harm can be perpetuated silently and at scale.”
Dr. Blackstock emphasized that the risks extend beyond the code to the people who develop and deploy these systems.
“We have to ask who is building these tools and what lens are they using. Are they applying an equity lens and looking at the groups most likely to be adversely affected? And who are these tools being applied to, knowing that they might be used in our daily lives?”
He also warned against over-reliance on the data that feeds these platforms.
“Apps like ChatGPT Health collect available patient data and make assumptions based on it. Some of that data may not reflect Black women or our experiences, but the results will still apply to us. If clinical trials are not diverse, we are not guaranteed that the drugs or treatments being tested are effective or safe for our bodies.”
While acknowledging that AI is inevitable, Dr Blackstock highlighted what needs to come next.
“What is absolutely necessary in the coming months and years is regulation around the development and use of this technology. Black women, in particular, should be especially careful when it comes to expanding the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare. We often don’t consider the assumptions built into these tools.”
AI is already health policy
AI is already embedded in the national health policy landscape, from federal health care programs and insurance systems to decision-making tools in hospitals. Its technologies shape care decisions and its assumptions shape outcomes. What has not kept pace is the policy infrastructure needed to ensure that these systems protect health rather than deepen existing inequalities.
But AI in healthcare doesn’t just exist on screens.
The environmental footprint we ignore
Behind every AI tool is the physical infrastructure. Data centers power healthcare algorithms, insurance platforms and government databases, and their rapid expansion is one of the least examined but fastest growing health policy issues facing black communities.
These facilities are increasingly being built in areas with limited political power and long-standing environmental vulnerabilities, particularly throughout the South. In Texas alone, reports show that large-scale data centers are projected to consume as much 2.7 percent of the state’s total water supply by 2030;even many communities face persistent drought and strained infrastructure. Similar patterns are emerging across Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi, where residents have expressed concerns about water depletion, increased heat, diesel generator emissions and rising utility costs associated with data center operations.
Environmental justice advocates warn that these facilities are often located in or near predominantly black and low-income communities, continuing a familiar pattern where industrial weight arrives without meaningful community consent or health impact assessments.
Despite their growing role in healthcare delivery, AI infrastructure remains largely untested from a public health perspective. As hospitals, insurers and public health agencies increasingly rely on artificial intelligence for diagnostics, billing, predictive models and patient management, the physical systems that support these tools are expanding faster than policies designed to protect communities from environmental harm.
What Policy It Recognizes and What It Doesn’t
This gap is explicitly found in Black Women’s Health Imperative National Health Policy Agenda 2025–2026which names the environmental and health consequences of the expansion of artificial intelligence as a critical and emerging health justice issue. The BWHI agenda requires safeguards to ensure that technological innovation does not exacerbate environmental exposures, health disparities, or resource disparities for Black women and families.
Community leaders across the South have expressed frustration with limited transparency, rushed zoning approvals and minimal public input. In some cases, residents report learning about data center projects only after construction, with little access to environmental monitoring data or long-term health protection.
“When AI infrastructure is built without regulation or accountability, risks shift to communities that already have too much,” he said. Candace Bond-Theriault, Esq., LL.M., Senior Policy Director at the Black Women’s Health Imperative. “We cannot separate digital health policy from environmental health. If AI is part of our health system, then its footprint must be governed by equity, transparency and protection of public health at the heart.”
Because this matters now
Artificial intelligence is shaping healthcare decisions today. Its environmental footprint is reshaping neighborhoods. Its algorithms influence care pathways. And his assumptions affect the results.
For Black women and families, this convergence of technology, environment, and health policy is not abstract. Environmental exposures are linked to chronic diseases and pregnancy outcomes. Algorithmic bias can affect diagnosis, treatment, and access to care. Without guardrails, these risks are amplified.
If AI is to become part of our healthcare system, then it must be governed as a health issue. This means regulation, transparency, community input and an explicit lens of equity from development to development.
At the Black Women’s Health Imperative, we will continue to raise the bar, focus community voices, and push for policies that ensure innovation does not come at the expense of our health, our environment, or our dignity.
