Artificial intelligence (AI) is being deployed at scale in primary care — from diagnostic support and risk stratification to triage and clinical documentation — without any agreed-upon outcomes-based framework for determining whether it strengthens or undermines continuity, coordination, comprehensiveness and people-centered care1. This is dangerous for the billions of people whose first contact with health systems is primary care.

In this Personal View, we outline the major opportunities and challenges of applying AI to primary diabetes care in LMICs, and propose directions for future development and implementation.