Insights from the Conference at the University of Salento
On November 18, the Congress Centre at the Ecotekne Campus of the University of Salento hosted an intensive day dedicated to the theme: “AI, Virtual Reality, and the Future of Medicine.” The event served as a vital moment for dialogue among the academic world, businesses, and healthcare professionals, demonstrating how collaboration between different stakeholders can generate profound and stimulating discussions on the future of healthcare.
The Ex Machina Experience: Augmented, Not Substitute, Intelligence
Marco Celeri, Matteo Cerina, and Sandro Cacciamani from Ex Machina shared the company’s practical experience in applying artificial intelligence to the medical sector. Their presentation covered design, ethical, and future aspects, delivering a clear vision: technology must not replace the expert, but rather enhance their capabilities, freeing up time and mental resources from low-value activities to focus on the patient relationship and clinical decision-making.
Among the projects presented, particular attention was given to Cyrano, a generative AI solution that assists doctors in drafting discharge summaries. The system, installed on-premises at the Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale (EOC) of Ticino, analyzes clinical data and generates a complete draft, transforming the physician’s role from author to reviewer. The goal is to return valuable time to healthcare professionals—time currently lost to bureaucracy, a problem studies show contributes significantly to physician burnout.
The other project highlighted was AY90, a collaborative web platform that supports the international scientific community in creating shared clinical practice recommendations. Through AI, AY90 facilitates the analysis of thousands of scientific publications, the classification of results, and the discussion and voting process using the Delphi method, ensuring transparency and traceability at every stage. However, the fundamental principle remains unchanged: AI suggests, the human expert decides.
Privacy, Ethics, and Responsibility
A central theme of the presentation was that of privacy and responsibility. Ex Machina illustrated how the on-premises approach with AI models installed directly on hospital servers, ensures that no sensitive data ever leaves the protected infrastructure. The issue of responsibility was addressed clearly: artificial intelligence is a tool, not a legal actor, and the professional responsibility for the final decision always remains with the physician who uses it.
The talk also touched upon regulatory aspects, with specific reference to the European AI Act, which classifies healthcare as a high-risk category, requiring maximum transparency and rigid regulatory compliance. The environmental sustainability of AI systems—which are highly energy-intensive during both training and use—was cited as a challenge that must not be overlooked in the design of efficient solutions.
A Dialogue Between Disciplines
As emphasized by the Ex Machina speakers, the major challenges of innovation in healthcare can only be overcome through multidisciplinary teams, where doctors, software engineers, AI experts, project managers, and legal experts collaborate, bringing diverse skills together for a common objective.
