Capabilities and limits are key terms in Rogers’s research. She wants to understand what AI systems can do for human health, where their limits lie, and what boundaries responsible programming must set. She also wants physicians and patients to better understand what AI can and cannot do.

Yvonne Rogers is one of the leading scholars in human-computer interaction. The British psychologist and computer scientist conducts research and teaches at the renowned University College London. As a U Bremen Excellence Chair holder since 2020, she has spent the last six years exploring how AI systems can improve healthcare. Her project was titled “Human-Computer Interactions: AI in Healthcare.” Excellence Chair holders act as bridges between the University of Bremen and leading research institutions around the world.

Discovering Patterns in Data

For physicians in particular, the Professor of Interaction Design sees many ways in which AI can support everyday work: “Discovering new associations and understanding patterns and trends within the burgeoning health data has much potential to improve care”, she says. “Above all, it enables healthcare providers to be better informed and develop more comprehensive and insightful diagnoses and treatments. We have explored various technologies that can support this, including mobile apps, virtual reality, and chatbots.” In this way, analyzed health data could support individual treatment decisions in hospitals, help monitor disease progression, or provide important higher-level data about population health.

For non-experts, however, Rogers sees the situation differently: “There is the risk that some people become over-reliant and even dependent on healthcare chatbots, treating them as confidantes.” While generative AI may be able to provide initial assessments of medical questions, these do not always match the actual problems people are facing. AI should therefore always be viewed as a tool used in combination with other human therapies and treatments. As an example, Rogers points to various tools that support mental health and well-being. “Our research showed how these applications can help people plan, reflect, and manage their personal lives effectively.”

Starting During the Pandemic

When Rogers and her two teams in London and Bremen began their work, they did so under difficult conditions. Soon after the project started, the coronavirus pandemic broke out: “This made it hard to establish our team, network, and conduct collaborative research,” Rogers recalls, who had previously been invited by computer science professor Johannes Schöning to conduct research in Bremen as an Excellence Chair holder. „However, once we could travel again, we made up for lost time. There was such a strong connection between the teams at our first joint meeting post COVID at Bremen; the emotions were very palpable.” The doctoral researchers worked closely together and organized several successful joint events, including international workshops and summer schools. “It was a joy to see them grow and connect through their Ph.D. programs, successfully defend their theses, move on, and then develop their own research careers. The Excellence Chair was incredibly supportive in enabling this to happen.”

Despite the difficult start, it was a favorable time for Rogers and her international team. As AI moved rapidly into the public spotlight, midway through the project, they were able to present a number of high-quality papers at top conferences, and those papers are now being cited widely. Rogers also built long-lasting connections with researchers in Bremen, with whom she continues to collaborate today.

New Research Ideas

Rainer Malaka also speaks of outstanding research results. As Professor of Digital Media and Managing Director of the Center for Computing Technologies (TZI) at the University of Bremen, he hosted Yvonne Rogers. “The collaboration was very positive,” says Malaka, who wants to involve Rogers as an external cooperation partner in future research proposals as well.

The results of the research collaboration will continue to shape the TZI’s ongoing projects and planned grant applications for a long time to come, Malaka is convinced. His institute is involved in the ComAI research group in the field of conversational AI, where impulses from the collaboration remain relevant. The same applies to a newly launched project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, which examines misinformation in healthcare and its analysis using AI language models. “Overall,” Malaka says, “we were able to generate new research ideas in the field of digital media applications in healthcare and in the field of conversational AI, and we will continue pursuing them in the future.”