The cognitive impact of AI-generated content on sexual and reproductive health cognition among women in Africa and Latin America: opportunities, challenges, and future paths

Yan Wang, Shuai Yuan, Xinjie Lin, Guiping Zhang, Hongcai Chen

Abstract

AI-Generated Content (AIGC) is reshaping information landscapes in Africa and Latin America, impacting women's Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) cognition. This paper explores AIGC's dualistic role through systematic literature synthesis, critical analysis of reports from international health organizations and government agencies, and the development of illustrative case scenarios grounded in documented experiences from these regions. Rather than presenting primary ethnographic data, this conceptual analysis synthesizes existing evidence and constructs contextually informed vignettes to illuminate the complex interplay between emerging technology, cultural contexts, and health cognition. The study highlights the digital divide, cultural factors, and trust as crucial mediators, demonstrating AIGC's dual potential: a tool for empowerment by improving information accessibility, personalization, and discussion of sensitive issues, yet also a risk for exacerbating inequalities through misinformation, algorithmic bias, and ethical concerns. It underscores women's active negotiation of AIGC within their specific socio-cultural contexts. The paper proposes strategic recommendations for technology developers, health systems, and policymakers to responsibly leverage AIGC, promoting a human-centric, equitable, and culturally sensitive approach to foster health equity.

Full Text:

PDF

References

Shao L, Chen, B, Zhang, Z, Zhang, Z and Chen, X. (2024). Artificial intelligence generated content (AIGC) in medicine: A narrative review. Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering, 21(1), 1672–1711. https://doi.org/10.3934/mbe.2024073

United Nations Population Fund. (2025). Start with her: UNFPA strategy for reproductive, maternal and newborn health and well-being 2025–2030. https://www.unfpa.org/publications/start-her-unfpa-strategy-reproductive-maternal-and-newborn-health-and-well-being-2025

Pan American Health Organization. (2024, May 28). PAHO calls for addressing inequities in access to sexual and reproductive health care. https://www.paho.org/en/news/28-5-2024-paho-calls-addressing-inequities-access-sexual-and-reproductive-health-care

Colomar M and Fiol V. Lack of abortion care is a threat to women’s health in Latin America BMJ 2024; 387 :q2530. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q2530

World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa. (2020, May). Sexual and reproductive health: Fact sheet. https://www.afro.who.int/sites/default/files/2020- 06/Sexual%20and%20reproductive%20health-%20Fact%20sheet%2028-05-2020.pdf

United Nations Population Fund. (2021). Latin America and the Caribbean regional programme (2022–2025) (Annex 4, Section 8 to UNFPA strategic plan, 2022–2025). https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/admin-resource/PROG_SP_2022_2025_Annex4_8.pdf

Ezeh A, Bankole A, Cleland, J, García-Moreno C,Temmerman M, and Ziraba A K. (2016). Burden of reproductive ill health. In R. E. Black, R. Laxminarayan, M. Temmerman, & N. Walker (Eds.), Reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health: Disease control priorities, third edition (volume 2) (pp. 25–42). The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK361922/ doi: 10.1596/978-1-4648-0348-2_ch2

Jones RT, Spencer FI, Paris LA, Soumaïla D, Kamara N, Hiscox A, and Logan J G. (2024). Evaluating barriers to reaching women with public health information in remote communities in Mali. BMC Health Services Research, 24(1), Article 905. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-024-11277-5

Phiri M, Odimegwu C and Kalinda C. (2023). Unmet need for family planning among married women in sub-Saharan Africa: A meta-analysis of DHS data (1995–2020). Contraception and Reproductive Medicine, 8(1), Article 3. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40834-022-00198-5

Shahbaz A, Funk A and Vesteinsson K. (2023). Freedom on the net 2023: The repressive power of artificial intelligence. Freedom House. https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2023/repressive-power-artificial-intelligence

United Nations Population Fund. (2024, April 17). New UNFPA report finds 30 years of progress in sexual and reproductive health has mostly ignored the most marginalized. https://www.unfpa.org/press/new-unfpa-report-finds-30-years-progress-sexual-and-reproductive-health-has-mostly-ignored

Mucci T. (n.d.). What is AI-generated content? IBM. https://www.ibm.com/think/insights/ai-generated-content

WITNESS. (2025, March 6). Deepfakes and digital abuse: Dismantling technology-facilitated gender-based violence. WITNESS Blog. https://blog.witness.org/2025/03/technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence/

Kim HK. (2024). The Effects of Artificial Intelligence Chatbots on Women’s Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Healthcare, 12(5), 534. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12050534

Ullah W and Ali Q. Role of artificial intelligence in healthcare settings: a systematic review. J Med Artif Intell 2025;8:24. https://doi.org/10.21037/jmai-24-294

Uddin J, Feng C and Xu J. Health Communication on the Internet: Promoting Public Health and Exploring Disparities in the Generative AI Era.J Med Internet Res 2025;27:e66032. https://doi.org/10.2196/66032

Rosenstock IM. (1974). Historical origins of the Health Belief Model. Health Education Monographs, 2(4), 328–335. https://doi.org/10.1177/109019817400200403

Sokey PP. and Adisah-Atta, I. (2017). Challenges Confronting Rural Dwellers in Accessing Health Information in Ghana: Shai Osudoku District in Perspective. Social Sciences, 6(2), 66. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci6020066

Dávila F, Cala-Vitery F, and Gómez LT. (2025). Determinants of access to sexual and reproductive health for adolescent girls in vulnerable situations in Latin America. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 22(2), Article 248. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22020248

Wilhelm E, Vivilaki V, Calleja-Agius J, Petelos E, Tzeli M, Giaxi P, Triantafyllou E, Asimaki E, Alevizou F, and Purnat TD. (2025). Effects of the modern digital information environment on maternal health care professionals, the role of midwives, and the people in their care: Scoping review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 27, Article e70108. https://doi.org/10.2196/70108

Moskal E. (2025, March 25). Gen AI's potential to transform global medical care – and the 'tension between the perfect and good'. Stanford Report. https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/03/generative-ai-tools-global-health-care-low-income-countries

Given LM. (2025, March 19). Generative AI and deepfakes are fuelling health misinformation: Here’s what to look out for so you don’t get scammed. RealKM Magazine. https://realkm.com/2025/03/19/generative-ai-and-deepfakes-are-fuelling-health-misinformation-heres-what-to-look-out-for-so-you-dont-get-scammed/

Sekati P. (2025, January 31). AI bias in sexual and reproductive health in Africa. ALT Advisory. https://altadvisory.africa/2025/01/31/ai-bias-in-sexual-and-reproductive-health-in-africa/

GSMA. (2024). The mobile gender gap report 2024. https://www.gsma.com/r/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/The-Mobile-Gender-Gap-Report-2024.pdf

Center for Global Digital Health Innovation. (2025, February). Responsible AI in global health: Solutions from the Global South (Research Roundup Issue 19). Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. https://publichealth.jhu.edu/center-for-global-digital-health-innovation/responsible-ai-in-global-health-solutions-from-the-global-south

Barron M ,Twinomugisha A, Kidwai H and Bentil EN. (2023, April 27). Preparing girls for the future of Africa: Approaches to empowerment through digital skills. World Bank Blogs. https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/education/preparing-girls-future-africa-approaches-empowerment-through-digital-skills.

Ecofin Agency. (2024, October 28). African women's internet usage increases, but gender divide remains significant. https://www.ecofinagency.com/telecom/2810-46078-african-women-s-internet-usage-increases-but-gender-divide-remains-significant

UNESCO. (2025, April 1). Advancing gender equality in the digital age at CSW69. https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/advancing-gender-equality-digital-age-csw69

Saavedra J. and Cafagna G. (2025, April 7). Artificial intelligence in health systems: What's missing in Latin America and the Caribbean? World Bank Blogs. https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/latinamerica/inteligencia-artificial-sistemas-salud-america-latina-caribe

United Nations Population Fund. (2024). Interwoven lives, threads of hope: Ending inequalities in sexual and reproductive health and rights (State of World Population 2024). https://www.unfpa.org/swp2024

KangHyun K, Sung-Min K, YoungMin P, EunSol L, SungJae J, Jeongyong K, DongUk A, Kyungil M, Sung Ryul S, Hyeong Won Y and Hyun Wook H. A blockchain-based healthcare data marketplace: prototype and demonstration, JAMIA Open, Volume 7, Issue 2, July 2024, ooae029, https://doi.org/10.1093/jamiaopen/ooae029

Bolarinwa O, Mohammed A, Igharo V, and Shongwe S. (2025). Leveraging artificial intelligence for inclusive maternity care: Enhancing access for mothers with disabilities in Africa. Women's Health, 21. https://doi.org/10.1177/17455057251326675

Feng Y, Hang Y, Wu W, Song X , Xiao X, Dong F, and Qiao Z. (2025). Effectiveness of AI-driven conversational agents in improving mental health among young people: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 27, Article e69639. https://doi.org/10.2196/69639

Mills R, Mangone E R, Lesh N, Mohan D, and Baraitser P. (2023). Chatbots to improve sexual and reproductive health: Realist synthesis. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 25, Article e46761. https://doi.org/10.2196/46761

Mills R, Mangone ER, Lesh N, Jayal G, Mohan D and Baraitser P. (2024). Chatbots that deliver contraceptive support: Systematic review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 26, Article e46758. https://doi.org/10.2196/46758

World Health Organization. (2024, March 8). Digital tools can help improve women's health and promote gender equality, WHO report shows. https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/08-03-2024-digital-tools-can-help-improve-women-s-health-and-promote-gender-equality--who-report-shows

Ahmed A, Aziz S, Khalil U, Khan M S R, and Kim B. (2023). Chatbots for mental health: A systematic review. Journal of Medical Systems, 47(1), Article 86. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-023-01979-y

Chereka AA, Shibabaw AA, Butta FW, Tadesse MN, Abebe MT, Atanie FA and Kitil G. W. (2025). Explore barriers to using the internet for health information access in African countries: A systematic review. PLOS Digital Health, 4(1), Article e0000719. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pdig.0000719

Li F and Yang Y. Impact of Artificial Intelligence–Generated Content Labels On Perceived Accuracy, Message Credibility, and Sharing Intentions for Misinformation: Web-Based, Randomized, Controlled Experiment. JMIR Formative Research. 2024; 8: e60024.

https://doi.org/10.2196/60024

Eke DO, Wakunuma K and Akintoye S. (Eds.). (2023). Responsible AI in Africa: Challenges and opportunities. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08215-3

Ferrer X, van Nuenen T, Such JM, Coté M, and Criado N. (2021). Bias and discrimination in AI: A cross-disciplinary perspective. IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, 40(2), 72–80. https://doi.org/10.1109/MTS.2021.3056293

Colón-Rodríguez CJ. (2023, July 12). Shedding light on healthcare algorithmic and artificial intelligence bias. Office of Minority Health. https://www.cemphfoundation.com/shedding-light-on-healthcare-algorithmic-and-artificial-intelligence-bias

Shidende N and Mwogosi A (2025), "Exploring the impact of generative AI tools on healthcare delivery in Tanzania". J Health Organ Manag, Vol. 39 No. 8 pp. 1580–1599, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JHOM-01-2025-0007

United Nations Population Fund. (2018). Low fertility in Latin America and the Caribbean: Situation and prospects. https://lac.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/Baja%20fecundidad%20en%20ALC%20(jun%202018)%20version%20web%20ingl%C3%A9s.pdf.

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.