KATY at the "AI in Medicine" Event

On 12th January 2024, KATY partner UNIVIE hosted the “AI in Medicine” conference on the premises of its Law Faculty. The event comprised talks and presentations on issues of topical significance by renowned experts from the fields of AI development and application, EU Law, and Medical Sciences. The event provided an extraordinary opportunity for academics, lawyers, government officials, medical practitioners, members of the civil society as well as the general public to present and discuss various implications of the emergence and the uses of AI in medical practice. The event discussed how AI technologies are developed globally, and their specific applications for diagnostic and preventative purposes.

The KATY project was represented by the team from the University of Vienna, Department of Innovation and Digitalisation in Law, i.e. Katarzyna Barud, Rodessa May Marquez, and Syed Zulkifil Haider Shah. The event provided a timely opportunity for the KATY project to be showcased as one of the premier EU-funded projects in Cancer treatment that builds on AI and to contribute to the discussion on the fundamental questions about legal and ethical issues, most notably about the regulation of AI and the questions of responsible and safe use of AI-based medical devices from both the clinicians and patients perspective.

The Conference sessions of most relevance to the KATY project included Machine Learning in Biomedicine; AI in Clinical Decision-making; AI Governance and Ethics; Patient Information and Informed Consent in AI-based Research and Treatment; and Medical Device Legislation and sessions on AI Act. Thus, participation in the event offered timely updates on a range of legal research and analysis tasks that WP7 is currently working on, including the development of a legal framework of the regulatory framework that may apply to the KATY project (most notably, the upcoming AI Act), both during the project and the post-project phase.

As a dissemination event of the KATY project, the attendees and speakers of the conference were informed about the KATY project, and their valuable comments were considered and any questions about the project were answered. To raise awareness about the goals, scope, impact, and outreach of the KATY project, promotional materials were distributed among participants, including a short information booklet.