The famous physicist Stephen Hawking recognised that “our future is a race between the growing power of our technology and the wisdom with which we use it”. The remarkable advances in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) over the past few years have attracted considerable attention – and fuelled fears. This year’s SCTO Symposium took a closer look at this topic from various perspectives.
 
We worked closely with Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale (EOC) in Lugano to put together a programme that was rich in variety. Leading experts presented practical national and international examples and answered the following questions:

• To what extent is the use of AI and ML in clinical research already a reality?
• How can the use of AI and ML benefit clinical research? What kind of clinical research is needed to validate its use?
• What are the opportunities, challenges, and risks of these new approaches?
• With every new technology, the question of regulation inevitably arises. How much regulation is needed, and what (new) ethical questions need to be answered?
• How do key Swiss stakeholders in clinical research currently address these new technological advances and how are they preparing for the future?

Over 150 participants attended the SCTO Symposium 2022. A selection of the videos and PDFs of the presentations as well as the programme of the event are available below.