Researchers, companies, governments and citizens exchanged ideas during keynote speeches, round table sessions and an information market. An important theme was citizen participation in AI development, with two of the eight tables specifically addressing the why and how of this. Participants emphasized that citizen participation is essential for support and understanding. They highlighted that this engagement should take place from the very start of the development process.
Key findings were that citizen participation should be self-evident and that citizens offer a unique perspective that developers and researchers often miss. Involving citizens creates more support and understanding. For effective participation, citizens must be involved from the start, not only through surveys, but also through direct contact in community centres. Qualitative methods and recognition of the value of their input, for example through gift vouchers, are important.
The Regulatory Sandbox (RS) roundtables highlighted the knowledge gap among stakeholders about their roles in AI innovation. The RS was seen as an experimental space to test AI safely and effectively and to identify regulatory barriers. Despite the risks of AI, participants viewed the Regulatory Sandbox as a controlled environment where such risks could be managed safely, ultimately benefiting patients. Alignment of regulatory frameworks, public engagement, and political and financial support are needed for success.
The round table sessions on the theme of ‘trust’ addressed various requirements that must be met if there is to be trust in the use of AI in healthcare. A model was developed by the ethicists of the ELSA AI lab Northern Netherlands. This model aims to better understand the concept of trust and to provide tools for developing trust in the use of AI in healthcare. The participants found the model helpful and together with the participants it was discussed how the model can be further implemented in practice. The model can be found here.
Finally, the aim of the round table sessions on the subject of ‘collaboration’ was to have participants, from a specific stakeholder position, such as patient, doctor or AI developer, reflect on various scenarios of AI development. The aim here was to stimulate long-term thinking. To facilitate this, two future scenarios were prepared and a ‘game board’ to visualize questions about probability, desirability and changing values. By asking participants to empathize with a certain perspective, the focus of the discussion remained on the problem presented in the scenarios instead of speaking from their own or current knowledge and position. The participants were therefore positive about the method of bringing creative and collective thinking into the research.
The round table discussions were accompanied by a number of keynotes. Julia Hermann kicked off with a keynote on shaping responsible futures through transdisciplinary approaches such as intelligent assistive technologies for elderly care and robotic care. Mirjam Plantinga gave an overview of the amount of work done by ELSA-NN and pointed to the second edition of the ELSA labs magazine with a specific focus on methodology, ELSA approach and methods (and their importance!), showcase of research projects of the 6 funded ELSA labs and challenges and best practices. Stephanie Klein Nagelvoort, vice-chair of the UMCG Board of Directors, discussed the importance of AI for healthcare, how the UMCG is committed to this and the challenges involved in responsible AI development and implementation, based on a discussion with the audience.
It was concluded by a Spoken Word by Hannan van Rooij with a beautiful story that included:
On a basis of: share your values, share your concerns
Responsible AI of tomorrow is the future
That is taking shape under our feet
With sensors, GPS, generators, translation machines as an anti-discrimination tool and by
ow do we keep the actual goal in mind with all the noise of innovation?
