Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are no longer abstract buzzwords - not even in the healthcare sector. The opportunities and challenges arising from this were the focus of the latest event in the Monday Series of the Institute for Science Dialogue (IWD) at Technische Hochschule OWL (TH OWL), which was attended by around 50 guests. The evening's speaker was Prof. Dr. Volker Lohweg from the Institute Industrial IT (inIT) at TH OWL, a proven expert in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
Possibilities of digital technologies
In his presentation "Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence in the healthcare sector", Prof. Lohweg highlighted the many possibilities of digital technologies - from the electronic patient record (German: ePA) to the application of AI in medical diagnostics. "The ePA is a key tool for improving treatment processes, avoiding information loss and giving patients more control over their data," said Lohweg. For him, one thing is clear: "Modern medicine needs digital structures - but also trust, data security and clear ethical guidelines."
AI-supported procedures in medicine
Another important topic of the evening was how AI-supported processes contribute to medical decisions. "AI may relieve the burden on doctors, but it must not replace people. The responsibility always remains with the medical professionals." Rather, AI is a tool helping to improve diagnoses - for example by analysing large amounts of data and recognising subtle patterns.
Lively exchange with the audience
The keynote speech was followed by a lively and multi-layered discussion with the audience, which made it clear that healthcare system’s digitalisation is a process that still involves many unanswered questions. In addition to the technological possibilities, there are social, legal and ethical challenges that need to be actively shaped in the coming years.