Artificial intelligence in healthcare: exploring the applications of tomorrow

Organised by the teams from the CAP Digital Health programme, with support from the CAP AI teams, a conference was held on April 29^th at the University of Bordeaux, focusing on the uses of AI, changes in the healthcare professions, and the skills to be developed in healthcare training programmes. The event brought together numerous stakeholders from the academic, medical, paramedical and institutional sectors.

At the opening of the conference, Rodolphe Thiébaut, project lead for CAP Digital Health and a doctor specialising in public health, emphasised the importance of supporting these changes through training: “The key point is education and training in AI.” Xavier Blanc, Vice-President for artificial intelligence at the University of Bordeaux, echoed this view, highlighting the growing impact of these technologies on professional practice: “AI is impacting our practices.”

This discussion continued with a talk by Frédéric Alexandre, a Research Director at the French National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology (INRIA), which focused on the need to ‘open the AI black box’. His presentation highlighted the challenges of understanding, transparency and trust surrounding artificial intelligence systems.

Practices that challenge professional standards

Throughout the day, the presentations highlighted the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence in the healthcare sector, as well as the ethical, educational and organisational challenges that accompany them. Discussions focused in particular on the sovereignty of health data, the use of AI in healthcare and social care settings and in universities, and the changing landscape of healthcare professions.

In his presentation, Cédric Gil-Jardiné, a Professor at the University of Bordeaux and a consultant in emergency medicine at Bordeaux University Hospital, provided concrete examples of these changes, using emergency departments as a case study. His talk highlighted the impact of artificial intelligence on professional practices, medical decision-making and the organisation of care in high-pressure environments. A round-table discussion also brought together education specialists and healthcare professionals to discuss the skills needed to support these new applications. The discussions also addressed issues of trust, responsibility and critical thinking in relation to artificial intelligence tools.

Philippe Nauche, Vice-President for health and the silver economy at the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Regional Council, who was present at the opening of the conference, emphasised the importance of these initiatives in supporting the changes brought about by artificial intelligence: “Everything that CAP Digital Health and CAP AI are doing is, for the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Regional Council, of the utmost importance in shaping the ethical framework of our lives in the future.”

A collaboration between CMA projects at the University of Bordeaux

The conference was organised in collaboration with CAP IA, another ‘Skills and Professions of the Future’ project led by the University of Bordeaux. This collaboration reflects a desire to pool skills and expertise across the various CMA projects run by the university, focusing on shared challenges related to digital transformation and the professions of the future.