Interactive SciArt Installation by Fiona Smith (UK)
If we feed the AI with incomplete or biased data – can we expect it to come up with reasonable predictions?
‘The BOX’, is an interactive installation by Dr Fiona Smith, Creator in Residence at Fraunhofer MEVIS, presented by the Institute for Design Informatics, exploring the practical and ethical implications of integrating AI technology into healthcare.
The potential benefits of utilising AI technology in healthcare are vast but there are important practical, technological, ethical and legal implications that need to be addressed in order to safeguard patients. The BOX is an interactive installation that explores the ‘black box’ aspect of AI technology and asks “If we feed the AI with incomplete or biased data – can we expect it to suggest reasonable treatment plans?”.
Visitors to The BOX installation will be taken on an interactive journey through an alternative hospital clinic. Acting as patients, they will be scanned and then presented with their test results to The BOX. Through a dynamic light display, The BOX will then communicate the treatment plan it has decided for each patient. Once processed, the visitors will be given the opportunity to interrogate the knowledge base used by The BOX to make its decision.
Background
The STEAM Imaging V creator residency brought together the artist Fiona Smith, scientists at Fraunhofer MEVIS, and students from the International Fraunhofer Talent School Bremen and the Walle School Center to discuss the important ethical, legal and practical implications of implementing AI technology in healthcare. Building AI models that make accurate predictions for patients requires diverse training data sets that are representative of the test population. In some cases it might be possible to continuously update the model with new training data as it becomes available, but how do you regulate a model where performance is continuously changing? How do you detect when the accuracy of the predictions being made by a deployed model is changing or showing differential performance across different patient groups? These questions and more are explored with The BOX, which has been produced in collaboration with the Institute for Design Informatics, Edinburgh, and premieres at the Inspace Gallery as part of the 2024 Edinburgh Science Festival.
The BOX is the artistic outcome of the Creator in Residence Programme ’STEAM Imaging V Holding the ‘Digital’ in Medicine to Account’, hosted by Fraunhofer MEVIS, Bremen, Germany, in collaboration with the Institute for Design Informatics, Edinburgh, the International Fraunhofer Talent School Bremen, and the School Center Walle, Bremen, Germany, supported by Ars Electronica, Linz, Austria.
This event is part of this year’s Edinburgh Science Festival exploring the theme Shaping the Future, showcasing some of the cutting-edge science that can help us create a future that is sustainable, accessible and equal for all.
Exhibition details
6-19 Apr 2024
10am-5pm daily
Inspace gallery
Creator in Residence
Dr Fiona Smith is a doctor and an AI scientist whose passion for art has led her to exploring multimedia approaches for public engagement throughout her career.
Fiona is a graduate of the University of St Andrews and the University of Manchester Medical Schools. She completed her foundation training in South East Scotland and her Plastic Surgery Themed Core Surgical Training in North East England. In 2021 she joined the CDT for Biomedical AI at the University of Edinburgh, where in addition to investigating AI applications in surgery for her PhD, she is a tutor for Case Studies in AI Ethics.
Programme Partners
Fraunhofer MEVIS develops real-world software solutions for image-and-data-supported early detection, diagnosis, and therapies for severe diseases and is embedded in a worldwide network of clinical and academic partners. The Institute’s scientists are committed to raising awareness about how digital medicine and related STEM sciences influence healthcare, and develop experiential projects at the intersection of science, art, and technology to reach new and diverse audiences, stimulate critical dialog between, and foster a more diverse R&D landscape.
Associated Event
Transformative Spaces: Science-Art Residencies
This panel event brings together those involved in the “STEAM Imaging V” residency, to give give insights into the process
18:00-20:00, Fri 5 Apr, 2024
Free | Booking required