Medical AI beyond borders

As artificial intelligence moves deeper into China's hospitals, the debate surrounding medical AI increasingly resembles an older conversation in global health — "How to balance innovation with safety, national ambition with responsibility, and technological speed with public trust?"

For Christoph Benn, a veteran of international health cooperation and one of the founders of the Global Fund, these questions are familiar. Having worked for decades with governments, United Nations agencies, and healthcare systems across Asia, Africa, and Europe, he views China's current medical AI push as part of a longer global trajectory rather than a departure from it.

"Artificial intelligence can make healthcare more effective and more efficient," Benn, director of the JLI Center for Global Health Diplomacy based in Geneva, said in an exclusive interview with China Daily. "But those benefits are not automatic. AI has to be used responsibly, according to clear guidelines and standards, so that people can trust it."

Benn, who is also serving as chair of the board of Health AI — the global agency for responsible AI in health, said that global health has long dealt with challenges that cross borders, such as pandemics, drug resistance, and unequal access to care. The governance tools developed in those battles are directly relevant to medical AI.

"Regulation is not about slowing innovation," he said. "It's about making sure systems are safe, validated, and accountable, especially when decisions affect human lives."

In China, similar concerns are now emerging as AI systems increasingly influence medical diagnoses, surgical planning, and hospital management. Questions of liability, transparency, and oversight were once debated primarily in the context of pharmaceuticals and vaccines. Now they are resurfacing in digital form.

What international experience offers China, Benn suggested, is not a ready-made regulatory model, but a mindset that technology must be embedded within institutions capable of evaluation and correction, rather than simply being deployed at scale.

"Every country needs the ability to assess, certify, and validate the AI tools they want to use," he said. "That capacity should not be limited to wealthy nations."

Benn is now involved in efforts to build international networks that bring regulators, researchers, and health authorities together to develop shared approaches to AI oversight. He said that the goal is not to impose uniform rules, but to enable mutual recognition and learning.

"Hospitals cannot regulate themselves in isolation," he said. "Governments need regulatory authorities, and those authorities need to talk to each other."

China's recent policy moves, from national AI action plans to local pilot programs and training centers, reflect an awareness that technology alone cannot transform healthcare.

In Benn's view, these efforts mirror earlier global health discussions. Governance is an important part of the infrastructure, as essential as hardware and software, and it needs to develop at the same pace.

If China has much to learn from international cooperation, Benn believes it also has much to offer.

"China's experience matters because it shows how innovation works at scale," he said. "Not in one hospital, but across an entire health system."

Unlike many countries where AI adoption is fragmented and market-driven, China's public insurance system and centralized planning allow new technologies to be tested, adjusted, and rolled out rapidly.

From AI-assisted diagnostics to remote surgery and the newly developed Agent Hospitals, China has become a real-world laboratory for medical AI implementation.

"These are not theoretical discussions," Benn said. "They are happening in clinical settings, with real patients."

For countries in the Global South, China's experience may be particularly relevant. Benn recalled his own time working as a medical doctor in rural Africa, where hospitals lacked even computers.

"Today, with mobile connectivity and AI-supported diagnostics, things that were impossible before are becoming realistic," he said. "That's a profound change."

One common concern, especially among critics, is that AI could widen existing health inequalities. Benn does not dismiss that risk, but rejects the idea that inequality is inevitable.

"Some people worry that AI will increase inequality. But inequality already exists. The real question is whether we design systems so that low-income and resource-limited settings can benefit," he said.

He said that is precisely where international cooperation matters most. Shared standards, open evaluation frameworks, and technology transfer can prevent a future in which advanced AI is confined to elite hospitals in wealthy cities.

After decades in global health, Benn is clear about what is at stake. "None of today's major challenges can be solved by countries acting alone," he said. "International cooperation is not optional anymore."