AI governance

Digital Health and AI

Definition. AI governance is the set of policies, structures and processes that guide how artificial intelligence is selected, validated, deployed and monitored so that it is safe, lawful and accountable.

Explanation

At national level, governance differs: China, the European Union and the United States combine regulation, standards and voluntary guidance in different proportions (Wang et al., 2025). In organisations, AI risk management has grown into its own research field (Bernardelli & Giudici, 2025).

For hospitals, practical frameworks define who approves AI tools, how performance and bias are checked, how incidents are reported and when a tool is withdrawn (Freeman et al., 2025). Good governance connects AI to existing quality, patient safety and data protection systems rather than treating it as a separate IT project.

Related concepts

Artificial intelligence (AI) Algorithmic bias Data governance Clinical governance Health technology assessment (HTA)

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References

Bernardelli, A. E., & Giudici, P. (2025). AI risk management: A bibliometric analysis. Risks, 13 (7), 131. https://doi.org/10.3390/risks13070131

Freeman, S., Wang, A., Saraf, S., Potts, E., McKimm, A., Coiera, E., & Magrabi, F. (2025). Developing an AI governance framework for safe and responsible AI in health care organizations: Protocol for a multimethod study. JMIR Research Protocols, 14, Article e75702. https://doi.org/10.2196/75702

Wang, S., Zhang, Y., Xiao, Y., & Liang, Z. (2025). Artificial intelligence policy frameworks in China, the European Union and the United States: An analysis based on structure topic model. Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 212, 123971. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2025.123971

Cite this entry: Kurutkan, M. N. (2026). AI governance. In The Health Topics glossary. https://healthtopic.org/glossary/ai-governance/

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