Title of the BIP Artificial Intelligence in Health and Sport | ||
Hosting University | Virtual Period start: 24th June 2024 | Virtual Period end: 12th July 2024 |
In-presence Period start: 17th June 2024 | In-presence Period end: 21st June 2024 | |
Language of teaching: English B1/B2 | ||
ECTS credits: 6 | ||
Number of participants: 20 | ||
Study level required: A Master’s (Bachelor’s fourth year students from Spain and Romania are accepted) or PhD level degree | ||
Selection criteria: MA (second cycle), PhD, Post-Doc, young researchers, adult learners, professional of the field | Contacts: Giancarlo Condello (University of Parma) |
In recent years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a transformative force in our society with advancements in machine learning, deep learning, automation, and natural language processing. AI entered industries like robotics, financial service, agriculture, medicine, transportation, defense. In the context of human wellbeing, AI also entered the field of healthcare, lifestyle, and elite sport with the target of prevention, diagnosis, monitoring, and prescription.
The joint action of computer science and medicine science produced the application of AI in the field of healthcare with the goal to improve patients’ diagnosis and care, to explore new solutions for diseases, and to lead better discoveries in research. AI is revolutionizing the management of lifestyle acting on the three behaviors for the promotion of a healthy lifestyle, the increase of physical activity level, the reduction of sedentary behaviors, and the adoption of healthy diet.
Through AI, internet platforms, smartphone apps, and wearable technology can be used to monitor and track individual levels of physical activity, vital parameters (heart rate), sleep patterns, daily food intake, and macronutrients distribution. AI acts to collect and elaborate real-time data and to provide personalized suggestions and recommendations for exercise and nutritional plans. AI has already had a hug impact on the sport industry. Sport organizations and sport clubs (mainly team sports as soccer, basketball, rugby, American football) consistently use AI for games, teams, players statistics, performance analysis, youth scouting, and monitoring of training load. In particular, the latter assumes a crucial role for the planning of training load and the prevention of risk injury, which remains a critical issue for players. In fact, injury has a negative impact on the players’ career as well as a cost for each club.
The proposed BIP will disseminate current knowledge and future directions for the use of AI for two main population targets: 1) general population, for the maintenance of a healthy lifestyle and for healthcare, and 2) athletes, for the reduction of injury risk and the optimization of the performance.
The competences acquired in the BIP will be divided into 4 modules covering general and specific knowledge of AI, also with a focus on research and practical implications. Emphasis will be provided to the safe and ethical application of AI to raise the awareness of the real potentiality of this technology but also its limitations.
The BIP will consist of lectures and workshops, in both virtual and in-presence modalities, with the participation of experts from education institutions and from sport and health sectors. The BIP will be built to guarantee a proficient exchange among students and scholars from different cultural contexts and expertise.