The future is already here: challenges of Artificial Intelligence

The format 'Hablando se entiende la ciencia', hosted by communicator Javier Atencia, is built around round tables that will address different current topics through the lens of research, encouraging debate and the exchange of views with attendees.

In this case, the session 'The future is already here: challenges of artificial intelligence' will feature the following talks:
· Generative AI in the medicine of the future / José Lozano Castro (Departamento de Biología Molecular y Bioquímica e IBIMA-Plataforma BIONAND)

Generative artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the development of new medical treatments by making it possible to design drugs much faster and more efficiently than traditional methods. This talk will show how these tools are transforming biomedical research, reducing the time and cost needed to discover new molecules with therapeutic potential. In addition, the possibilities offered by this technology in diseases such as cancer or obesity will be analyzed, as well as its current limitations in complex conditions such as neurodegenerative diseases. A talk to discover, between fascination and scientific caution, the greatest pharmacological revolution of this century so far.
· Can artificial intelligence help diagnose patients better? Challenges and opportunities / Federico García Criado (Departamento de Biología Molecular y Bioquímica)

Artificial intelligence is becoming a key tool for improving medical diagnosis through the joint analysis of clinical and genetic information. This talk will explain how language models can turn medical reports into structured data and how these can be combined with genetic information to facilitate diagnosis, especially in the field of rare diseases. It will also address some of the main challenges posed by this technology, such as data privacy protection, the shortage of information to train the models, and the need to develop systems capable of explaining their decisions and conveying trust to professionals and patients.
· Cybersecurity and AI: the circle of dependency that defines the future / Cristina Alcaraz Tello (Departamento de Lenguajes y Ciencias de la Computación)

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into emerging technologies, such as digital twins, has created a paradoxical scenario: the very tool that drives innovation has become a potential threat to its own stability. We face a duality in which AI is simultaneously the origin of the attack and the key to defense. In this talk, we will explore this complex interdependence through two European Marie Curie action projects. We will show that security cannot be one-directional: while we use AI to strengthen active defenses, we must protect the AI models themselves with equal rigor, since if they fail, the entire system collapses, leading to drastic consequences and probably irreparable damage.
· Does science make AI or does AI make science? / Pablo Ramírez Espinosa (Departamento de Ingeniería de Comunicaciones)

Artificial intelligence is profoundly transforming the way scientific research is carried out. From information search and article writing to the design of new algorithms and research methods, these tools are changing the everyday work of the scientific community. This talk will reflect on the increasingly relevant role of AI in the generation of knowledge, as well as on fundamental questions such as the reliability of the information it produces, its current limits, and the ethical and scientific challenges posed by its growing integration into research.