The Bioethics Observatory of the Catholic University of Valencia (UCV) will hold the conference “Humanity and Algorithms: Bioethical Reflections on AI” on July 10th, starting at 9:30 a.m. at its headquarters on Trinitarios Street. Among the participants in this academic gathering will be Andrea Ciucci, Secretary General of RenAIssance—the Vatican organization responsible for analyzing everything related to artificial intelligence. In his presentation, starting at 4:00 p.m., Ciucci will discuss the cultural interpretation of the AI ​​phenomenon.

Adela Cortina, professor emeritus of Ethics and Political Philosophy at the University of Valencia (UV), will also participate in the meeting. The renowned Valencian thinker will give a lecture at 9:40 a.m., in which she will propose an ethical framework for trustworthy artificial intelligence.

Ethical difficulties and risks of AI in biomedicine

The director of the Bioethics Observatory, Julio Tudela, asserts that this conference aims to be a space for deep intellectual reflection in the face of “the progressive incorporation of AI tools, in their various forms, into the fields of research, data management, production processes, and biomedical procedures in healthcare,” which opens up “new, previously unsuspected possibilities, although not without ethical difficulties and risks that must be identified and assessed preventively.”

This dual approach to AI should aim, Tudela explains, to “develop procedures that ensure its application does not pose a threat to the security, protection, truthfulness, health, or dignity of people.”

How artificial intelligence influences the doctor-patient relationship

The conference, “aimed at researchers, teachers, students, and anyone interested in the field of bioethics, and especially in artificial intelligence,” will also feature experts beyond Ciucci and Cortina. Thus, the roundtable “AI: Innovation, Law, and the Future” (10:30 a.m.) will feature Federico de Montalvo, former president of the Spanish Bioethics Committee, Vice-Rector for Institutional Relations and Secretary General of Comillas Pontifical University-ICADE, who will provide an ethical and legal reflection on the relationship between doctor and patient in the era of AI, from the perspective of the placebo effect.

At the same table, UCV professor Enrique Estellés will present the fundamental principles of algorithms; and UV professor Ricardo Martínez will address new regulatory requirements for biomedicine, from AI regulations to the European Health Data Area.

Threats of medical techno-autonomism

The next roundtable will be held at 12:15 p.m., focusing on the application of AI to biomedicine and its relationship to bioethics. José Justo, professor at the University of Cádiz, will analyze the status of human dignity and rights within the context of AI; Rafael Amo, professor at the Comillas Pontifical University (UPC), will clarify the epistemology of AI bioethics; and Luis Echarte, professor at the University of Navarra (UNAV), will present considerations on the risks of medical techno-autonomism, within the framework of the relationship between an ethics of principles and artificial intelligence.

The final round table of the day (4:30 p.m.) will be led by Vicente Bellver, professor of Philosophy of Law and Political Philosophy at the UV, and Alfonso Ballesteros, professor of Miguel Hernández University. The conference, which will be inaugurated by José Manuel Pagán, rector of the Catholic University of Valencia, will close at 5:30 p.m.