The 2026 WHO/ITU/WIPO Global Initiative on Artificial Intelligence for Health (GI-AI4H) meeting - Hangzhou, China | Dr. Brenda Tanyi Tal

As the 2026 WHO/ITU/WIPO Global Initiative on Artificial Intelligence for Health (GI-AI4H) meeting in Hangzhou, China (16–18 September, 2026) comes to a close, I leave with something stronger than excitement about what AI can do.

I leave with optimism about what we can do 𝗶𝗳 𝘄𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹.

From seeing the progress of AI for health research, development and implementation in China, to high-level dialogue on AI governance and cross-border collaboration, to the progress of GI-AI4H Working Groups and Topic Groups, one message kept emerging:

Responsible AI is not about choosing between innovation and regulation. We need both.

One Chinese idiom shared by Dr. Alain Labrique, WHO Director of the Department of Data, Digital Health, Analytics and AI, particularly stayed with me:

因噎废食 (yīn yē fèi shí) = 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘂𝗽 𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴.

In AI for health, the lesson is powerful: 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁. We should build the safeguards that allow us to use it responsibly.

And this challenges another familiar idea:

“Regulation is the enemy of innovation.”

Perhaps the better question is: what happens when regulation creates a clear pathway for responsible innovation?

Clear regulatory pathways can provide the confidence, accountability and predictability needed for safe, sustainable and scalable innovation.

These conversations 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 because the 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹:

Control and alignment. Misinformation and deepfakes. Cybersecurity and weaponisation. Privacy and intellectual property. Economic disruption and inequality.

But fear alone cannot be our strategy.

𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁. 𝗜𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁.

That means keeping humans meaningfully in control, matching the 𝗱𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝘀𝗸, requiring appropriate safeguards, generating real-world evidence, protecting privacy and intellectual property, and ensuring that quality, safety, sustainability and equity remain inseparable from innovation.

This is one of the reasons I am grateful to contribute to GI-AI4H.

Because the question is no longer simply:

“Can AI transform healthcare?”

It is:

“How do we make sure that transformation is safe, evidence-based, equitable, sustainable and worthy of trust?”

That is the work ahead. And I am excited to be part of it.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 is the single most important ingredient for building public trust in AI for health: regulation, evidence, transparency, human oversight or something else? - Dr. Brenda Tanyi Tal