Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Health-AI (Human collaboration with AI agents in national health governance: organizational circumstances under which data analysts and medical experts follow or deviate from AI.)
Reporting period: 2023-06-01 to 2025-11-30
The HEALTH-AI project conducts extensive anthropological fieldwork around the theme of human-nonhuman decisionmaking in hospitals around the world. The research is conducted across countries with three categories of governmental and institutional structures: democratic, flawed, and authoritarian. Country cases include Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, China, the UAE and Estonia. In hospitals, a team of ethnographers gathers invaluable qualitative data that help us answer our main research questions: how do human, professional caretakers increasingly make decisions together with AI; how does AI influence human decisionmaking; which factors underly this (governmental structures, AI regulatory difference, and/or other, more individual factors such as trust in technology or training in AI development), and with which potential impact for human healthcare in respective country case studies? These questions are relevant to answer because at this moment, little empirical evidence has been gathered about the way in which human evaluators follow, or deviate from AI. That is potentially problematic, because many regulatory frameworks now assume that humans can and will function as autonomous evaluators of AI. However, scattered evidence indicates that often, humans are heavily influenced by technology, and hence, outcomes are skewed, or AI-mistakes run the risk to be missed. The results of this project will help policy makers and professional caretakers better how and why AI is impacting human outcomes, and the project aims to stimulate amendments of policy and medical curriculae where needed.
Another goal of this research is to develop innovative methods to study, ethnographically, future scenarios. Anthropologists and other ethnographers increasingly aim to understand how people perceive and anticipate futures, and how these ideas impact their present behaviour. However, the field lacks tools to study such scenarios. The HEALTH-AI project develops and tests a methodology to this aim, called the Future-in-the-Now methodology.
Another goal of this research is to develop innovative methods to study, ethnographically, future scenarios. Anthropologists and other ethnographers increasingly aim to understand how people perceive and anticipate futures, and how these ideas impact their present behaviour. However, the field lacks tools to study such scenarios. The HEALTH-AI project develops and tests a methodology to this aim, called the Future-in-the-Now methodology.
The HEALTH-AI team has made substantial progress in advancing understanding of ethical AI integration in healthcare. Our team, including the PI, 2 PhD students,1 postdoctoral researcher and a student assistant, conducted extensive fieldwork across six countries—Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, China, the UAE, and Estonia—gathering invaluable qualitative data that help us answer our main research questions: how do human, professional caretakers make decisions together with AI; how does AI influence human decisionmaking; which factors underly this (governmental structures, AI regulatory difference, and/or other, more individual factors such as trust in technology or training in AI development), and with which potential impact for human healthcare in respective country case studies.
Despite the sensitivities surrounding the subject of ethical AI in the field of healthcare, and despite the fact that usually, gaining access to hospitals for ethnographic researchers is very hard due to the high-pressure environment of healthcare settings, we successfully conducted in-depth interviews with approximately 100 healthcare professionals and performed long periods (3-6 months per location) of observational studies in six hospitals around the world. This rich dataset provides unprecedented insight into the ethical, social, and practical dimensions of AI deployment in health contexts.
Since the start of this research the Principal Investigator (PI) has interviewed 30 stakeholders: developers of AI healthcare, hospital managers buying in the technology, etcetera.
She also authored 11 peer-reviewed articles in medical and anthropological journals of high quality. All articles are peer-reviewed, 10 out of 11 were solo-authored. She also has four additional articles and a book chapter forthcoming, later this year and in early 2026; and the team will start writing together in August 2025 for co-authored publications. The PI’s publications can be found in both medical, and in anthropology/social science journals. This dual publication strategy ensures that this project’s findings reach both the clinical community and academic theorists, bridging the gap between practical concerns and theoretical development.
Furthermore, the PI has given 28 key note talks to both academic and public audiences; has organized a seminar at the host institute with relevant scholars (professor Minna Ruckenstein from Finland, professor Klaus Hoeyer from Denmark); has organized a roundtable with 30 key stakeholders in the field of digitalizing healthcare at the host university in Amsterdam, and has offered 2 workshops for clinicians and nurses around the topic of Ethical AI.
The PI has managed and coordinated the team, providing extra-curricular PhD training, chairing weekly group meetings as well as facilitating individual meetings with all team members. She has also maintained trustful relations with the collaborating organizations (all hospitals).
Despite the sensitivities surrounding the subject of ethical AI in the field of healthcare, and despite the fact that usually, gaining access to hospitals for ethnographic researchers is very hard due to the high-pressure environment of healthcare settings, we successfully conducted in-depth interviews with approximately 100 healthcare professionals and performed long periods (3-6 months per location) of observational studies in six hospitals around the world. This rich dataset provides unprecedented insight into the ethical, social, and practical dimensions of AI deployment in health contexts.
Since the start of this research the Principal Investigator (PI) has interviewed 30 stakeholders: developers of AI healthcare, hospital managers buying in the technology, etcetera.
She also authored 11 peer-reviewed articles in medical and anthropological journals of high quality. All articles are peer-reviewed, 10 out of 11 were solo-authored. She also has four additional articles and a book chapter forthcoming, later this year and in early 2026; and the team will start writing together in August 2025 for co-authored publications. The PI’s publications can be found in both medical, and in anthropology/social science journals. This dual publication strategy ensures that this project’s findings reach both the clinical community and academic theorists, bridging the gap between practical concerns and theoretical development.
Furthermore, the PI has given 28 key note talks to both academic and public audiences; has organized a seminar at the host institute with relevant scholars (professor Minna Ruckenstein from Finland, professor Klaus Hoeyer from Denmark); has organized a roundtable with 30 key stakeholders in the field of digitalizing healthcare at the host university in Amsterdam, and has offered 2 workshops for clinicians and nurses around the topic of Ethical AI.
The PI has managed and coordinated the team, providing extra-curricular PhD training, chairing weekly group meetings as well as facilitating individual meetings with all team members. She has also maintained trustful relations with the collaborating organizations (all hospitals).
A key innovative contribution of HEALTH-AI is the co-creation of new methodologies that foster cross-disciplinary dialogue and knowledge exchange. Notably, the development of the Future-in-the-Now methodology, which emerged from staged theatre productions and participatory data collection during the project, exemplifies this. The theatre piece, co-created with healthcare professionals, artists, and theater makers, has been successfully staged in seven venues—including the Beatrix theater and major healthcare congresses—serving as a dynamic platform for public engagement and critical debate on AI ethics in healthcare. In the Future-in-the-now method, data is gathered during staging of the play amidst the audience, which consists of participating clinicians and nurses, and the invitees they decide to bring to a play. This innovative approach functions both as a catalyst for dialogue and as a pedagogical tool, bridging academia, industry, and the public.
Furthermore, the project has initiated a visual arts installation around ethical AI in partnership with the Next Nature Foundation, testing the applicability of the Future-in-the-Now methodology in artistic contexts. This installation will become part of the fixed exhibition of a large and well known museum in the Netherlands: Evoluon in Eindhoven.
The insights gained from these activities will be published in an upcoming article in Humanity and Anthropology (2025). The PI’s commitment to decolonial methodologies is reflected in ongoing public-facing events—workshops, roundtables, and the theatre performances—that actively involve diverse stakeholders, including community groups, activists, and policymakers, ensuring that knowledge is co-produced and accessible beyond academic circles.
Furthermore, the project has initiated a visual arts installation around ethical AI in partnership with the Next Nature Foundation, testing the applicability of the Future-in-the-Now methodology in artistic contexts. This installation will become part of the fixed exhibition of a large and well known museum in the Netherlands: Evoluon in Eindhoven.
The insights gained from these activities will be published in an upcoming article in Humanity and Anthropology (2025). The PI’s commitment to decolonial methodologies is reflected in ongoing public-facing events—workshops, roundtables, and the theatre performances—that actively involve diverse stakeholders, including community groups, activists, and policymakers, ensuring that knowledge is co-produced and accessible beyond academic circles.