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We operationalize AI literacy as a core public health competency, defined through knowledge, skills, and attitudes and scaled across professional roles. For education, we describe how AI can support learners, teachers, and organizations through personalized learning experiences, dynamic scenarios, immersive simulations, content preparation, and communication strategies. For research, we analyze how AI can be embedded as a transversal enabler supporting the World Health Organization\u2019s essential public health functions. We emphasize that AI should enhance, rather than replace, human capabilities and propose that AI literacy should be recognized as a core public health competency. We suggest that harnessing AI for public health education and research is, therefore, less a technological challenge than a collective responsibility shared by educators, researchers, and institutions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.2196\/92246","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,12]],"date-time":"2026-08-12T13:05:06Z","timestamp":1786539906000},"page":"e92246-e92246","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Artificial Intelligence as a Core Public Health Competency: Proposal and Perspectives in Education and Research"],"prefix":"10.2196","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5475-0021","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Laura","family":"Brunelli","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3818-9676","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Federico","family":"Fonda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1018-7094","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Silvio","family":"Brusaferro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1010","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"R1","unstructured":"World Commission on the Ethics of the Scientific Knowledge and Technology. 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