From education to transportation, the omnipresence of AI is tangible – and the healthcare sector is no exception. At the end of last year, the Directorate-General of the Wiener Gesundheitsverbund (the Vienna Association for Health Care) hosted a two-day lecture series about the intersection of Algorithms, AI, and Ethics, where experts from TU Wien Informatics, MedUni Vienna, and Vienna’s urban administration provided their insights into the potential chances and challenges that come with AI. The lecture series explored the technical and ethical aspects of AI in the context of healthcare, highlighting areas and contexts in which AI can support healthcare professionals.

One such area is radiology, where AI can be used to increase the image quality of MRIs or to support the analysis and evaluation of radiological image data. AI also proves useful in diagnostics, for example with AI-supported analyses of immunohistochemical preparations. Expert keynotes and presentations about the technical aspects and ethical implications of AI in a healthcare context were held by Thomas Eiter, Christian Huemer, Laura Kovacs, Julia Neidhardt, Hannes Werthner, and Stefan Woltran. The two-day lecture series emphasized the need for discussion and reflection on AI in medical contexts; while AI offers the potential to enhance diagnostics and support healthcare professionals in their daily tasks, it also brings risks and challenges that warrant care.