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| John Smith Stadium Copyright owner Arne Műseler Licence CC BY-SA 3.0 DE Source Wikimedia Commons |
Earlier today I attended the "AI Innovation in Healthcare" conference on the third floor of the John Smith Stadium in Huddersfield. It was one of the first events of the Huddersfield Health Innovation Partnership. It began at 09:30 and ended at 15:30. Pathfinder Healthcare Developments C.I.C which helped to deliver the conference has posted some photos of the venue and a summary of the event on LinkedIn. The audience included academics, clinicians, computer scientists, healthcare professionals, investors and software developers As far as I could see I was the only lawyer and I did not recognize any patent attorneys.
The morning started with breakfast. After registration, attendees were offered a choice of yoghurt and cereal or fruit salad and hot drinks The programme began with a keynote speech from Dr. Mina Gupta Chair of the Modality Partnership. She outlined the services for patient care in the United Kingdom, the gradual automation of those services that had taken place in her lifetime, clinicians' attitudes towards automation and the use of artificial intelligence in primary care practices. As I was mindful of the privacy, copyright and database rights issues that had arisen over AI training I asked her about the training of those systems. She replied that they had been developed by third-party suppliers but that there had been no data quality or security issues. I met her during the first coffee break when she amplified her answer and spoke in more detail about the resourcing of research.
The next programme consisted of debates and discussions. Two panels of clinicians and computer experts discussed four motions relating to the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare. After each motion groups of audience members who had been seated around tables were invited to discuss and vote on each of the topics. I can't remember all of the motions but one was over whether leadership was the primary driver for the use of artificial intelligence.
Lunch consisted of a mixed salad with a choice of chicken or vegetarian accompaniments. I circulated as much as I could during lunch and met an angel investor, a journalist and a sales representative for one of the AI systems suppliers, I also visited the stands of Skin Analytics and Blue Prism and learnt about their products. After lunch the auditorium was partitioned and we were divided into two breakout groups. I joined the regulatory and ethical issues group which was addressed by two very interesting speakers.
The first was a member of Google Healthcare's team in the UK. He explained that Google contributes technical solutions to healthcare devices in developed markets such as the UK but did not create such products by itself. He discussed some of the projects in which his company had been involved. As I had recently read Lord Justice Birss's judgment in Comptroller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks v Emotional Perception AI Ltd [2024] EWCA Civ 825 (19 July 2024) in which he explained in everyday language how artificial neural networks ("ANNs") work I asked the speaker whether the systems that he had described ran on ANNs or whether digital computers could be programmed to emulate such platforms. He replied that his systems ran on ANNs.
The last speaker was Michael Watts of Blüm Health and I found him to be the most interesting speaker of the whole day, He is both an entrepreneur and a doctor which is a rare combination and holds business as well as medical qualifications. He had co-founded Blüm Health which is described on its website as a one-stop-shop digital health delivery partner. He discussed some of his company's products and services in his presentation. Being mindful of the Court of Appeal's decision in Emotional Perception I asked him about the legal protection of his software. He replied that he was aware of the computer programs' "as such" exclusion from patentability and relied on copyright and first mover advantage; I was very impressed by his talk and congratulated him on it afterwards.
The day finished with a group photo which was appropriate as it was very much an NHS family event. I would have appreciated a little more focus on the technology and perhaps more discussion on intellectual property, data protection and other legal issues but then I am a friend and not a member of that family. From the chatter that I heard on the way out the event had been enjoyed and appreciated. It was certainly a good use of my time.
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