Second DSI Strategy Lab

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine will change the possibilities in prevention, diagnosis and therapy as well as the associated processes and responsibilities in healthcare in the coming years. For this reason, in the «Strategy Lab» of the Digital Society Initiative (DSI) experts from the University of Zurich and other organizations have addressed the question in a systematic and participatory process: «Which objectives and associated recommendations lead to the responsible use of AI in medicine?»

Four case studies were developed that demonstrate the changes in medicine due to AI over time. The Digital Twin was identified as an important development in the future.

Goals and recommendations for the responsible use of Digital Twins in medicine were developed.

The goals and recommendations of the second DSI Strategy Lab have been summarized in a position paper. These goals and recommendations relate to Digital Twins with health-related functions, which show in a paradigmatic way the future use of AI in medicine.

The goals and recommendations are already relevant and are targeted to the perspectives of four stakeholder groups:

• Citizens and patients
• Health professionals
• Manufacturers & providers of Digital Twins
• Regulators and payers

The position paper of the second DSI Strategy Lab is available in three language versions here:

• Position paper in EN (PDF, 1 MB)
• Position paper in DE (PDF, 956 KB)
• Position paper in FR (PDF, 1 MB)

As part of the second DSI Strategy Lab, four case studies on the use of artificial intelligence in medicine were developed in a systematic and participatory process. The case studies develop chronologically along three fictitious scenarios: from the «now» to the «near future» to the «distant future». The further a scenario is in the future, the more autonomous decisions an AI application can make.

The case studies are available «open access» for use in educational settings and/or workshops to discuss AI applications in medicine:

• The case study «Prevention» (PDF, 146 KB) is about predicting an individual's likelihood of developing cancer and recommending individual prevention measures to reduce the risk of cancer in individuals and in the population.
• The case study «Diagnosis» (PDF, 126 KB) focuses on new forms of behavioral monitoring that determine whether an individual has a disease or is at high risk of developing a disease.
• The case study «Therapy» (PDF, 147 KB) describes how AI can support, and ultimately partially replace, medical professionals in their search for optimal therapy.
• The case study «Resource Allocation» (PDF, 140 KB) shows how AI can improve access to medical interventions and eliminate waste of healthcare resources.

These documents may be used under the Creative Commons license CC BY-SA: Free distribution under attribution, modification of the content is possible, but the work must be redistributed under the same license after modifications.

Almost two-thirds of the Swiss population would like a digital twin - this is the result of a representative survey conducted by the Digital Society Initiative (DSI) of the University of Zurich in the summer of 2023 in collaboration with GFS Bern.

Further, first results of the representative survey can be found here.

The Scientific Committee for the second Strategy Lab consists of:

• Prof. Dr. Nikola Biller-Andorno (Vice Dean Innovation and Digitalization of the Faculty of Medicine)
• PD Dr. Markus Christen (DSI Managing Director)
• Prof. Dr. Michael Krauthammer (Chair of Medical Informatics)
• Prof. Dr. Claudia Witt (DSI Co-Director)