Interview with Martin Przewloka: "Our complex world is becoming more manageable through AI"
Published: 06.19.2023
With his team and the support of Alcedis, Prof. Dr Martin Przewloka has developed an app that uses artificial intelligence to detect occupational diseases in workers at an early stage. In this interview, the scientist shows the opportunities of AI and why it is indispensable for a modern world.
About Martin Przewloka and the project:
The scientist, entrepreneur and industry manager Prof. Dr Martin Przewloka founded the Institute for Digital Assistance Systems in 2018 to advance development, teaching and research in this field. With his team, Przewloka developed an app to identify the risks of occupational diseases and suggest preventive measures. Alcedis supported the project in its development and execution. For this innovation, the team won the main prize in an ideas competition of the Federal Ministry of Labour this year.
Prof. Przewloka, you have been running the Institute for Digital Assistance Systems since 2018. How does artificial intelligence improve people's everyday lives?
"Globalisation is changing the world, making it more complex and costly. Industrial goods and services are distributed everywhere and are needed at all times. The coordination of a global supply chain system, for example, is extensive. A human being can no longer manage this alone. At this moment, a data-based algorithmic solution helps to recognise and calculate the unpredictable in advance. Artificial intelligence can be compared to a calculator: It is an assistance system that supports humans, but does not replace them. This is also reflected in the name of the institute. I see AI as an assistance system."
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Your institute recently won the ideas competition of the Federal Ministry of Labour with a project on the prevention of occupational diseases. What is the aim of this AI project?
"With the help of artificial intelligence illnesses and emerging health problems in everyday working life are to be recognised at an early stage to enable fast countermeasures. Although everyone's vital signs and physical traits are different, there are influencing factors that shape us all. These include certain postures, types of movement, sleep, stress or the way we travel to work. They increase the likelihood of an occupational disease such as a slipped disc, burnout or eye problems. AI knows these factors from scientific studies and includes them in its calculations."
And how do you incorporate personal factors such as pre-existing conditions or physical activity?
"In addition to the general data, the individual medical history of each participant is collected. For this purpose, we use questionnaires, for example, which ask for information such as health complaints, well-being and basic data such as age, height and weight. The artificial intelligence is then fed with the individual data and generic information from science and medicine. It uses machine learning to analyse the values, compares and calculates a score that indicates the personal risk for a disease and suggests countermeasures."
What distinguishes your app from a fitness tracker?
"Our app does not praise or criticise real-time values, it does not ask anyone to move more. Rather, at the end of the day, users receive a summary of their physical movements and initial tips on how they can optimise them. The longer they use the app, the more information is collected and the better the AI analyses what is good for them and how they can stay healthy."
Which professional groups do you focus on?
"During the Corona pandemic, a large number of home-based workplaces have emerged, these are the ones we will study first. We collect data on how long a person works at their computer, how often they move around, whether they work standing up or sitting down, or how many breaks they take. In addition, we can also examine certain clinical pictures, such as the so-called "mouse hand". Those affected complain of pain in their fingers and hands, which can extend to the shoulder, and in others their hand falls asleep. We can also link our app with other devices: in this case, we would record the mouse track on the computer and collect the movements of the hand with a wearable. By combining this data, we can see how a person affected is using the device and what they can do to alleviate their problem."
What is the goal of your app?
"We want to prevent postural damage and mental illness, and spare sensory organs such as eyes and ears. Initial preliminary studies for the project make us confident. Until the end of the year, we will still receive our prize money as funding from the Federal Ministry of Labour. After that, it will be decided how the project will be further financed and thus finalised."
You worked closely with Alcedis for the preliminary studies. How did the CRO support your project?
"Within our preliminary studies, we were able to use evaluation algorithms related to medical trial data that Alcedis had collaborated on to further develop our artificial intelligence and algorithm with. In addition, the Alcedis team provided us with technical support in designing the AI and implementing the machine learning."
Many people use AI unconsciously in everyday life, for example when they get into their car or take a look at their pedometer. How do you assess the interest for your app?
"I rely on people's curiosity and trust. Those who recognise how our app analyses and improves their physical constitution will use the product and stick with it. In addition, we guarantee the protection of personal information. All individual data remains on the user's device and is evaluated there."
Nevertheless, people, especially in the medical field, often find the idea of making their data available to an AI difficult.
"And I have full understanding for that. People question every change, smell a loss of control behind it. But artificial intelligence is merely a further development of computer science. It recognises correlations and makes decisions based on data. We should understand AI as a tool that makes work steps easier and more efficient. Of course, AI is obviously massively more powerful than humans in terms of computing technology, but it will never replace us because humans always have control over the processes in the end. We should recognise the benefits of processes: Our complex world is becoming more manageable through innovations like AI. Especially in Germany, I observe that society and politics often stand in their own way when it comes to using new technologies. As a scientist, I recommend trying out innovations more quickly and then reflecting on them critically. Otherwise, we run the risk of being overtaken and left behind by other nations like China."
How is artificial intelligence used ethically in our society?
"This discussion always depends on which value system we live in. The answer to this question will be different in a country like China than in Germany. I think that as long as humans continue to retain control over innovations, a certain degree of relinquishing responsibility to a digital system is absolutely fine on the way to the goal. Whereby the integrity of the individual must always come above everything: No one should be harmed in the use of new technologies such as AI. Human dignity is inviolable."