Respect for patient and consumer privacy rights in healthcare is a longstanding and fundamental obligation. Just as the technology of artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly evolving, so too is the landscape of privacy, but not in equal measure. Knowledge with solid understanding of the progression of multiple competing federal, state, and international laws and regulations against the backdrop of current and emerging best practice frameworks and governance sets the stage for both risk and opportunity in the use of AI. Transformational, innovative usage of AI, while a potentially significant tool to improve patient outcomes, address care coordination, personalize medicine, increase overall quality of care, reduce administrative burdens, and decrease financial pressures, can also have known or unintended privacy and legal consequences that require careful consideration. AI depends on substantial amounts of health data, often sensitive and complex and not well understood by users or the public. When the concept of health data privacy is handled with deliberate purpose, awareness and preparation, potential complications can be effectively overcome allowing the use of AI to thrive in medicine and human subject research.