Nature Health Paper Proposes an 'Epidemiology of AI,' Arguing AI Is Now a Determinant of Health
EricTopol · x · 2026-09-21
A Nature Health perspective paper, "The epidemiology of artificial intelligence," argues that AI now functions as a determinant of health, yet epidemiology lacks frameworks for measuring AI exposure or its population-level effects.
Borrowing from environmental epidemiology, the authors distinguish ambient AI exposure (algorithmic curation and AI-mediated institutional decisions affecting populations regardless of individual choice) from personal AI exposure (direct, volitional use of AI tools). Drawing on nationally representative US survey data, they show why today's experimental studies miss AI's chronic, population-scale effects, and call for an epidemiology of AI with consequences for study design, health equity, and governance.
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