Cited by 3Ethics and Social Impacts of AIArtificial Intelligence in Healthcare and EducationArtificial Intelligence in Healthcare

Ethical Issues Raised by Artificial Intelligence and Big Data in Population Health: A Scoping Review

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Couture, Vincent, Roy, Marie-Christine, Dez, Emma, Tremblay, Fannie, Bélisle-Pipon, Jean-Christophe·2025·Frontiers in Sociology

Abstract

Introduction: Artificial intelligence systems (AIS) powered by big data (BD) are more and more common in the healthcare sector and many anticipate that they will have a substantial effect on population health. Facing the disruptive potential of these transformations, there is a need to keep the pace with the ethical reflection accompanying the uses of AIS and the BD systems enabling such innovations. Methods: To carry out this task, we conducted a scoping review of the ethical issues of AIS and BD, in population health, based on 243 scholarly articles. Results: Our results show the explosion of publications on the subject in recent years. Our qualitative analysis of this literature highlights the potential issues of AIS and BD on the three components of population health: (1) the health outcomes and their distribution in the population and between populations; (2) the patterns of health determinants; (3) the policies and interventions developed to connect the previous components. Discussion: Our conclusions show the uncertainty of the positive outcomes of these technologies and their potential for unequal distribution. Authors consider that AIS and BD will affect determinants of health either in their understanding and by transforming the structure of these determinants. At last, this review points that the policies and interventions developed to attain population health goals will have to answer to numerous ethical expectations. This review offers a comprehensive mapping of ethical issues raised by the uses of AIS in the global field of population health.

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  • A scoping review of 243 articles found that AI and big data technologies reshape health determinants and policies.

    “A scoping review of 243 articles found that these technologies reshape health determinants and policies [2].”

    From Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Identifying Social Determinants of Health in Low‐Income Populations Within United States Health Systems: A Scoping Review (2026) · cites this paper as [2]

    The Materials and methods section reports a final sample of 243 articles. The Results discuss how AI and big data may affect health determinants and interventions and policies, but characterize these as potential or anticipated effects rather than finding that the technologies already reshape them. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Big data systems influence population health outcomes by reshaping how providers understand health determinants and structure interventions.

    “Big data systems influence population health outcomes by reshaping how providers understand health determinants and structure interventions [2].”

    From Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Identifying Social Determinants of Health in Low‐Income Populations Within United States Health Systems: A Scoping Review (2026) · cites this paper as [2]

    The Results (Health determinants; Health outcomes and distribution) discuss how AI and big data may affect population health, including concerns that a narrow view of health could divert attention from upstream determinants and public-health interventions. The paper does not establish that big data systems have reshaped providers’ understanding or intervention design, and it presents the effects largely as potential risks rather than demonstrated outcomes. (LLM, conf=0.83)

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2 of the 236 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. Balas E. A. Vernon M. Magrabi F. Gordon L. T. Sexton J. (2015). “ Big data clinical research: validity, ethics, and regulation” in Medinfo 2015 Ehealth-enabled health. eds. Sarkar I. N. Georgiou A. Marques P. M. D. (Amsterdam: Ios Press), 448– 452. 26262090
  2. Couture V. Bélisle-Pipon J.-C. (2023). Artificial intelligence as a threat for global health. BMJ Glob. Health. https://gh.bmj.com/content/artificial-intelligence-threat-global-health
  3. Leonelli S. (2019). Data-centric biology: a philosophical study. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  4. World Health Organization (Ed.) (2021). Ethics and governance of artificial intelligence for health: WHO guidance. 1st Edn. Geneva: World Health Organization.

Authors
Couture, V., Roy, M.-C., Dez, E., Tremblay, F., & Bélisle-Pipon, J.-C.
Affiliations
  • Université Laval (CA)
  • Université de Montréal (CA)
  • Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (FR)
Corresponding author
Couture, Vincent
Venue
Frontiers in Sociology
Published
2025-09-09
Volume
10
Pages
1536389-1536389
ISSN
2297-7775 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4414148133
Cited by
3
References
236
Citations by year
2026: 3
FWCI
0.46
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Frontiers in Sociology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Safety Research › Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Health Informatics › Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
Keywords
artificial intelligence, big data, population health, ethics, health outcomes, health disparities, health determinants, health policy, health interventions, health technology

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