The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has unveiled a comprehensive strategy to significantly expand its use of artificial intelligence (AI), aligning with the Trump administration's enthusiastic embrace of this rapidly evolving technology. The plan, billed as an initial step, aims to enhance departmental efficiency and streamline AI adoption across various divisions. Beyond internal improvements, the strategy also hints at more ambitious goals, including leveraging AI for the analysis of patient health data and accelerating drug development. Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O’Neill emphasized the need to overcome bureaucratic obstacles, stating, “It is time to tear down these barriers to progress and unite in our use of technology to Make America Healthy Again.”

This new strategy reflects a broader trend within the Trump administration to foster AI innovation, encouraging federal employees to integrate chatbots and AI assistants into their daily operations. This approach contrasts with the Biden administration, which issued an executive order to establish guardrails for generative AI. However, President Donald Trump's administration subsequently repealed that order, actively working to dismantle barriers to AI implementation across the federal government.

The HHS plan advocates for a “try-first” culture to boost staff productivity and capabilities through AI. Earlier this year, HHS made the popular AI model ChatGPT accessible to all employees. The strategy is built upon five crucial pillars: establishing a robust governance structure for risk management, developing a suite of AI resources for departmental use, empowering employees with AI tools, funding programs to set AI standards in research and development, and integrating AI into public health and patient care initiatives.

HHS divisions are already progressing on initiatives to utilize AI for delivering personalized, context-aware health guidance to patients by securely accessing and interpreting medical records in real time. However, this aggressive push into AI, particularly concerning health data, has generated concerns. Members of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s own “Make America Healthy Again” movement have voiced discomfort with tech companies accessing personal health information. This apprehension is compounded by past criticisms faced by HHS for potentially overstepping legal boundaries, such as when it shared sensitive Medicaid recipients’ health data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

Experts acknowledge the opportunities presented by modernizing government operations but also highlight significant risks. Oren Etzioni, an AI expert and founder of a nonprofit combating political deepfakes, commended HHS’s enthusiasm but cautioned against prioritizing speed over safety. He noted, “The HHS strategy lays out ambitious goals — centralized data infrastructure, rapid deployment of AI tools, and an AI-enabled workforce — but ambition brings risk when dealing with the most sensitive data Americans have: their health information.” While acknowledging positive signs like calls for “gold standard science,” risk assessments, and transparency, Etzioni expressed skepticism about Kennedy’s leadership upholding such rigorous standards, citing his past disregard for scientific principles.

Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brooking Institution’s Center for Technology Innovation, pointed out that while the document promises to strengthen risk management, it lacks detailed information on implementation. West raised critical questions about how sensitive medical information will be handled and shared, particularly the distinction between safeguards for individual records versus aggregated data analyzed by AI tools. He stressed the importance of balancing the use of medical information for operational improvements with privacy protections for personal data. Nevertheless, West concluded that if meticulously executed, this strategy could serve as a transformative example of a modernized agency operating at a significantly higher level.

Looking ahead, HHS reported 271 active or planned AI implementations in the 2024 financial year, a number projected to increase by 70% in 2025, underscoring the department's rapid expansion of AI integration.