Agenda

On 7 July 2024, an international workshop on artificial intelligence, data sharing and regulation was held at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice, organized by the International Society for Bayesian Analysis (ISBA) and co-financed by the European Union. The event brought together experts in statistics, economics, computer science, law and philosophy to discuss the challenges and opportunities of AI.

After the institutional greetings, Prof. Christian Robert (Université Paris-Dauphine PSL, CNRS) and Prof. Stefano Favaro (University of Turin and Collegio Carlo Alberto) opened the proceedings by illustrating two scientific projects funded by the European Union. Prof. Robert presented a project that brings together researchers from different backgrounds to lay the groundwork for the next generation of machine learning algorithms, in which multiple agents interact in a network, operate for long time in a shared environment, and engage in interactions that can be collaborative or competitive. Prof. Favaro illustrated the use of recent statistical tools from differential privacy theory to study the fundamental trade-off between information protection, which requires the release of partial or perturbed data, and Bayesian learning, which requires data that are as complete and accurate as possible to make inferences and improve predictions.

The day continued with presentations by several experts in the field: Dr. Alessandro Bernes (Ca' Foscari University of Venice) presented the new European legal framework on the sharing of health data, including for scientific research purposes, highlighting the presence of new players such as data intermediaries and future data sharing ecosystems such as the European Health Data Space; Prof. Marina Timoteo (University of Bologna and AlmaLaurea) offered a comparison between the European and Chinese legal systems on the subject of data ownership: it emerged that the relationship between data and property rights is a complex issue in all legal systems due to the sui generis nature of data as assets. The round table, coordinated by Prof. Antonietta Mira (University of Italian Switzerland and University of Insubria), explored the themes that emerged during the day and offered food for thought for the future. Among the interventions, Dr Sebastiano Saccani (AIndo SPA) stressed the importance of tools that provide statistical information without revealing personal data for the development of AI solutions, in compliance with the GDPR. Dr. Carlo Rossi Chauvenet (Data Valley) discussed the role of data in smart cities and services, the complexity of defining new business models for the creation of a data market and the European digital strategy to regain control over data. Prof. Kerrie Mengersen (Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane) presented the Australian context on data sharing and regulation, highlighting similarities and differences with the GDPR. Prof. Michael Jordan (University of California, Berkeley) stated that the value of data is contextual and depends on the problem you want to solve: privacy is an asset that can be traded in exchange for the benefits that can be obtained by giving it up, even if only partially. Prof. Clelia Di Serio (Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan) stressed the importance of health data quality and the fundamental role of statisticians in improving understanding of health data systems and AI. Dr. Davide Consiglio (Generali Italia) illustrated the challenges and opportunities of AI in the insurance sector, highlighting the importance of better understanding the customer profile and the need to address the issue of elderly care.

The workshop concluded with the announcement of the conference on Global Health in the Age of AI, to be held from 7 to 9 November 2024 at the Cini Foundation. The scientific programme is coordinated by Prof. Luciano Floridi (University of Bologna and Yale University).