The Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, spoke today with the distinguished Greek scientists of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Konstantinos Daskalakis and Michalis Bletsas, about the revolution of Artificial Intelligence and what it is changing in the field of Health, from the operation of hospitals to precision in disease diagnosis but also in personalized treatment

The discussion took place in the first thematic section of the 5th ygeiamou conference at the Athens Conservatory. The debate was moderated by the journalist Babis Koutras.

Answering a question about the permanent problems of the National Health Service and artificial intelligence, the Prime Minister emphasized that “the Health System of our country obviously carries serious pathogens from the past. I am glad that today we will discuss the future of health, but we must say that we have also launched a plan to restructure the Health System”.

He said that AI is a revolution that will change everything. We see it as an opportunity to be able to reach and perhaps surpass other countries that had the opportunity to develop their systems earlier. Also, artificial intelligence without data cannot exist, so starting from applications like myhealth.app and reaching a complete file, it is very important to automate processes also within hospitals to go to a digital exchange of information.

“What excites me is the next step in the applications of artificial intelligence to help, for example, every scientist to analyze the structure of a protein to do related research to using AI applications to diagnose skin cancer. We will not replace the doctor, but the use of data to reach conclusions and observations that we cannot make with the naked eye is important”, he emphasized.

In response to a question about what artificial intelligence can offer in the field of Health, Mr Konstantinos Daskalakis who is also the president of the High Level Advisory Committee for Artificial Intelligence in Greece, emphasized that our country can innovate in this field, it is ready and we have the support we need.

Artificial intelligence has made leaps and bounds over the past decade, and the biggest ones are in the type of data it can analyze, he pointed out. He pointed out that he does not think that AI will replace the doctor, the human factor.

“All of us interact with artificial intelligence. In the last decade, AI has managed to unlock content from previously unattainable types of data, images, natural language, molecules, etc. This gives a picture of how we can imagine AI helping medicine.

Credibility needs to be built especially for patient health issues. To develop the corresponding tools we need data. At the moment Greece is given a great opportunity and it concerns the collection of data.

Greece is designing the electronic patient file and this must be done correctly. In other systems the information is fragmented while we can build it in a harmonized way and also develop systems that will be able to support research on the data. This is how we will be able to become a nation that innovates in the field. I consider the use of genetics data necessary and another opportunity is to improve the operation of our hospitals without forgetting that humans have emotional intelligence that is important for the interaction and treatment of patients “, he emphasized.

For prevention and how AI can contribute Michalis Bletsaswho is also the commander of the National Cyber ​​Security Authority, pointed out that in 2019 the minister of digital governance had asked him if he would do a project in Greece what would it be, and he had answered the digital health file because it is something that can have multiplier benefits .

“So it’s a tool that comes and sticks very well with programs like the Fofi Gennimata program,” he said, pointing out that “in general, models can be created that give you a risk score, which is very useful for prevention.

It is critical to have a tool that shows us individually, say, how often a test can be done, because it is more efficient.

We need to be mindful of data security while at the same time making the data we collect available to researchers,” he added.

Regarding what may be going wrong and health is an area that concerns the citizens, Kyriakos Mitsotakis emphasized: “First of all, I have never hidden the great difficulties and challenges facing the NHS and the need to make a leap but this does not negate the need to address structural pathologies of the health system and we are making a great effort to make up lost ground.

We need to change the way we approach health. Most people have identified health with the hospital.

This government is treating health much more holistically, with primary health care and preventive check-ups where a revolution is taking place today, with steps that even help change habits to have a good life in the future.

It’s another perception of how we see health as a whole, and that’s where technology can help us a lot,” the Prime Minister pointed out.

“Obviously, we have to build and are building our hospitals, but it is important to have good telemedicine applications and it is an important addition to the operation of the health system. AI will never be able to airlift, but we can send medicine with a drone,” he said characteristically.

As he said we should not fear the application of artificial intelligence and we should have safeguards to protect data. By feeding the algorithms with more data we can have a better prediction.

Regarding how close Greece is to implementing artificial intelligence in the health system, Mr. Daskalakis answered: I believe in the complementarity of AI and doctor, or health system. Producing a diagnosis is a difficult task but confirming a diagnosis is easier.

If it is easy for a human to confirm the result of an algorithm, which result would be time-consuming and difficult to produce, it is useful.

This is how artificial intelligence can help but whatever we build the clinical study is essential.”

Regarding the possibility of disrupting the patient-doctor relationship, Mr. Bletsas pointed out that today we rely on computational statistics and we cannot remove the human from the process and this is a basic principle.

More generally, he commented that the patient must know how to distinguish information from noise, and this is something for which information is required.

Asked to comment on brain drain in brain gain, the prime minister emphasized: “First of all you see two distinguished scientists who provide their services to the homeland. Right now the data shows that we are starting to see a reversal of the brain drain.

Many large employer companies that hire Greeks or operate in our country receive resumes from scientists who want to return to our country.

“A framework is being created that has nothing to do only with earnings but also with the belief that the country is moving in the right direction,” he said characteristically and spoke about the need for universities to emphasize areas related to the development of technology.

Regarding AI’s priorities for our country, Mr. Daskalakis pointed out that the Committee he heads has been organized and is looking for public sectors and where there are opportunities for development

Some priorities: a horizontal proposal made by our committee has to do with mapping, data collection and also its management. We also invest in the ethical use of AI.

Regarding personal data, Mr. Mitsotakis then referred to the AI ​​Act which, as he said, is a field of intense consultation in Europe in which our country wants to actively participate in order to protect ourselves from the negative effects, from the so-called dark side of artificial intelligence .

Our country comes with a specific position on what interests us in Greece and what is important for Europe.

It will be a very interesting debate, they will concern us the next day and since we have European elections let’s not think about the small political kitchen but the big challenges and how we want Greece to position itself against them.

“Europe is trying to find a balance with Artificial Intelligence and with its dark side, which exists,” he said, referring to the different paths taken by China and the US from the EU regarding the GDPR. “Greece does not come to the discussions only with what concerns our country, but co-shapes proposals. I remind you of the Digital Certificate which was a Greek proposal and was adopted”, said Mr. Mitsotakis.

As he said, “we need to look at the effects of children’s and teenagers’ contact with social media. There is a link between them and mental health, we need to see that. We need to get to the heart of the algorithm and how these platforms treat the children themselves.”

Responding to a related question, Mr. Bletsas emphasized that if he had to make an intervention, “I would neither do medical school nor electrical engineering, but I would pay more attention to the Lyceum so that it becomes a substantial educational level again and not just an examination center for the admission to the University he is currently at.’ He also added that we should not confuse the health system with medical capabilities, essentially comparing the health system in Greece with that of the USA at least at the level of prevention.

The secret of longevity

Mr. Mitsotakis then said that no one knows the secret of longevity, but there are five things that if you do, you will live at least 15-18 years longer: don’t smoke, drink a little and preferably wine and not imported whiskey, do sports, to watch his weight and diet.

He referred to why we vote in the European elections, stressing that we vote so that the country is strong in the European Parliament and in all other European institutions.

But they also have a national dimension and we are raising the gauntlet of the opposition. “Don’t confuse stability with stagnation. Stability is a prerequisite for big changes. Our slogan is always “closer to Europe” and there are areas where we can surpass Europe”, he emphasized.

Responding to the comments of the scientists, he emphasized that many fought against postal voting, but now this institutional initiative of the government is justified and the next step is to institutionalize postal voting for non-Greece citizens in national elections as well.