DOES AI CARE?
Sofie Layton with young adults with experience of cancer, and Wellcome/EPSRC Centre for Medical Engineering researchers (2023)
Can AI look after patients?
From analysing medical images to aiding diagnosis and treatment, AI may become widely used in healthcare. But how might it look after patients, or affect the expertise and empathy of healthcare professionals?
Does AI Care? explores ideas of ‘care’ and the complexity of living with cancer, in relation to AI. Artist Sofie Layton worked alongside young adults with experience of living with cancer, and researchers who use AI applications in medical imaging, radiotherapy, and surgery. The group met through a series of online and in person workshops to discuss their experiences of care, cancer and AI through metaphor creation and creative exercises. Together, they considered how technological developments may shape a patient’s experience.
Enter the ‘hospital waiting room’ and tune into an audio piece that combines their reflections on the nature of AI, cancer and care, with responses generated by an AI chatbot. The accompanying textile installation merges visual representations of the young adults’ multifaceted experiences of care with their personal medical images - realised as blueprints – and text generated by the group and AI algorithms.
Listen to the audio piece below or download the transcript (pdf file). (Content warning: cancer, illness, recovery)
Read about the experiences of two young people involved in the making of Does AI Care?
CREDITS
Commissioned by: Science Gallery London
Supported by: Wellcome/ EPSRC Centre for Medical Engineering, King’s College London
Young adults: Charlie Aldred, Samuel Benson, Sam Brewis, Emma Lovatt Smith, Kate Mason, Holly Masters, Bethany Moorhouse, Heather Smith
Researchers: Virginia Fernandez, Alejandro Granados, Teresa Guerrero Urbano, School of Biomedical and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London
Coordinators: Alice Taylor-Gee, Bella Spencer, Wellcome / EPSRC Centre for Medical Engineering, King’s College London
Composition: Jules Maxwell
Digital Design Support: Tom Layton
Wellbeing support: Young Lives Vs Cancer
SOFIE LAYTON has worked as an artist for over 30 years. Her work includes installation, site sensitive performance and theatre. Her most recent work explores the creative interface between patients and the scientific clinical landscape, based on a participative narrative process. She conceived Bedside Manners (2012 -2013) at Evelina Children’s Hospital; Making the Invisible Visible , originally created during her residency at Great Ormond Street Hospital (2015-2016); and The Heart of the Matter (2016-2019) a national project exploring the medical, experiential and poetic dimensions of the heart. Website
YOUNG ADULT COLLABORATORS: This group, made up of 20-30 year olds with experience of living with cancer, shared their stories to shape the artwork and give researchers an understanding of patient experiences of cancer and treatment.
DR TERESA GUERRERO URBANO is a consultant clinical oncologist, exploring the potential of AI to improve radiotherapy planning for cancer patients.
VIRGINIA FERNANDEZ is a PhD student exploring how AI can be used to create synthetic brain data sets to train algorithms.
DR ALEJANDRO GRANADOS is a Lecturer in Surgical Data Science, exploring the potential of AI to support surgical planning and delivery.