Science Bench – new date

22.7.2021 | DIT Public Relations

On 29 July, the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) will once again come to town. On the bench at the Oberer Stadtplatz between the town hall and Pustet this time: the DIT expert for artificial intelligence (AI), Prof Dr Patrick Glauner. From 10.30 am to noon, he would like to talk to citizens about how data and its analysis are already changing our health care and will change it even more in the near future.

The complete mapping of an individual’s genetic make-up is no longer a big deal. You can already get the date for a few hundred euros. In a few years, experts say, they may be as normal as a complete blood count. So the door to individualised medicine is open. “The crucial thing, however, will be how we can use the data, for example from a personal genetic make-up, in an ethically sensible way,” says DIT professor Patrick Glauner. This requires the development of technologies such as artificial intelligence to be able to evaluate and interpret the enormous amounts of data. In addition, blockchain technologies to ensure the necessary data security and quantum computers to realise the necessary computing power. The market for the analysis of genetic data alone is expected to be worth $40 billion by 2030. Accordingly, research and work on this is being carried out at full speed worldwide. The first successes are already emerging in cancer therapy. Not only has the connection between certain genetic constellations and the development of cancer been proven, but also that with individually achieved treatment successes. In radiology and dermatology, AI has long provided valuable diagnostic support thanks to pattern recognition. "The concern that this technology will eventually replace real doctors is unfounded," says Glauner. Rather, the technology is an additional, data-based expertise. The analysis result of an AI, which can incorporate a virtually infinite amount of data into the evaluation, combined with the personal medical experience delivers the best possible treatment suggestion. "But in the end, it is always the human being, the doctor, who decides together with her patient," assures Glauner. Nothing will change in that regard. Of course, the topic of data processing in medicine also has a great ethical dimension. Citizens are welcome to talk to Glauner about this, too. An ethical dimension on two levels, by the way. On the individual level, it must be ensured that everyone can decide for themselves who gets access to personal data. Interesting at this point: In the US, there is already a business model of lending your data to universities or pharmaceutical companies. For a fee, of course. On the societal level, the question arises whether we shouldn't all make our data available to research in anonymised form - or even have to. Because it's clear: only when really large amounts of data, keyword Big Data, come together, does a picture emerge, an interpretation with a high degree of reliability. For the benefit of all those who suffer from incurable diseases today and cannot be cured due to a lack of understanding of these diseases. Many questions, then. Questions that move people. Not only computer scientists and doctors. "Some of them can certainly be answered at the DIT Science Bench," Patrick Glauner is sure.

Bild (DIT): The Science Bench offers citizens the opportunity to exchange ideas with DIT researchers in a very uncomplicated way.