ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE CARE OF CHRONIC DISEASES. THE CONFERENCE PROMOTED BY PROMIS

The workshop on artificial intelligence in the treatment of chronicity has wrapped up

About a hundred participants attended the two-day event dedicated to “Artificial intelligence and chronic disease management” opened this morning by the talk by Ettore Turra, from the Trento Province Healthcare System’s information service.

During the conference, different insights were offered on the topic “AI and chronic diseases” that tried to make people understand what are the main issues to be addressed in the treatment of chronic diseases closely linked to the adoption of artificial intelligence in healthcare.

Eugenio Santoro, with the Mario Negri Institute in Milan, highlighted critical issues related to the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare: issues connected with privacy and health data protection, the lack of validity and efficacy studies, methodological biases, liability, the properties of data and algorithms to ending with ethical problems. But the potential uses, according to Santoro, are many: creation of predictive and prevention models, early diagnosis (and timely treatment), application of machine learning and chatbots, analysis of the cause-effect relationship in diseases (epidemiology 2.0), discovery of new drugs and clinical trials.

Stefano Forti, coordinator of FBK’s Health and Wellbeing Area, illustrated the characteristics of the technological platforms designed for the treatment of people suffering from chronic diseases and how big data and investments in changing people’s behavior can help the doctor-patient relationship.

Sabrina Nardi, from the non-profit organization Cittadinanza Attiva, who holds the role of director of the connection area with over 100 national associations of chronically ill patients (CnAMC), spoke about the relevance of the role of AI in involving patients when choosing their care plan. Also the talk by jurist Paolo Guarda with the University of Trento was lively, as he explained how “not all AI has been created equal for everyone”, focusing on the logic of AI in healthcare in the context of privacy and the recent entry into force of new GDPR regulation. Giulia Pellizzon, from the Arsenàl.it consortium of Veneto, focused on the “salutekmzero” project and the process of co-creating and improving the electronic health records with the patient/citizen. Finally, Carmela Pierri from Agenas described the importance of training for health professionals.

The highly appreciated contents of the talks prompted the debate in the room and the awareness among attendees that in Trentino there are highly qualified professionals capable of working together to give concrete answers to all citizens.