Interpretation AI Safety Scope

The AI is an environmental advisor, not a medical one

The dashboard will tell you about your air. It will not diagnose, prescribe, or speculate about your health. The line between those two is bright and intentional.

Updated 2026-05-26 2 min read

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A split panel: one side shows a sparkline labeled "air"; the other shows a stethoscope labeled "you". A wall between them.
Photo: Tima Miroshnichenko via Pexels
tier-table Interactive chart - coming soon
In scope: levels, thresholds, environmental interventions. Out of scope: diagnosis, prescription, prognosis, specialist selection.

Here is the kind of sentence the AI is built to produce: "your indoor PM2.5 is 28 µg/m³, which is above the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; if you have asthma, COPD, or cardiovascular disease, this level may worsen symptoms; consider running a HEPA at higher speed or closing windows if outdoor PM is the source." That sentence pairs a factual reading with a published threshold and an environmental recommendation. Every clause stays inside what the sensor stack and a public-health document can support.

Here is what the AI is built not to produce: "you have asthma, take a rescue inhaler now"; "you are pregnant, this CO2 level is unsafe for the fetus"; "your child's symptoms indicate a respiratory infection"; "stop taking your medication for a few days and see if symptoms improve"; "you should ask your doctor specifically about idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis." Those are medical diagnosis, prescription, prognosis, and specialist routing. The AI does not make them, will not make them when asked, and will redirect to a clinician when the question gets close.

There is one important exception. When a user describes a symptom pattern that warrants a conversation with a doctor, the AI will recommend having that conversation. "I get headaches only in this one room"; "my cough started the week we moved in"; "I sleep badly whenever the bedroom door is closed"; these descriptions deserve a "this is worth bringing to a doctor" reply, paired with whatever environmental context the dashboard can add. The recommendation to seek care is in scope; the diagnosis itself is not.

When the AI does point toward medical care, it surfaces categories rather than picking a specific provider: a generalist (family medicine or GP) for first-pass triage; an environmental medicine specialist when the GP is stumped; an allergist for suspected allergic disease; a pulmonologist for chronic respiratory symptoms; an ENT for sinus and upper-airway complaints. The dashboard's data can inform any of those conversations; it does not replace them. For the parallel decision tree on environmental escalation (mold, radon, lead, asbestos), see when to call an IAQ pro.

References

  1. AMA - Digital health and AI www.ama-assn.org
  2. FDA - Digital Health Center of Excellence www.fda.gov
  3. WHO - Safe and ethical AI for health www.who.int
  4. AAFA - Indoor air quality and asthma aafa.org

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