The risks of risk-based AI regulation: taking liability seriously

The development and regulation of multi-purpose, large "foundation models" of AI seems to have reached a critical stage, with major investments and new applications announced every other day. Some experts are calling for a moratorium on the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4. Legislators globally compete to set the blueprint for a new regulatory regime. This paper analyses the most advanced legal proposal, the European Union's AI Act currently in the stage of final "trilogue" negotiations between the EU institutions. This legislation will likely have extra-territorial implications, sometimes called "the Brussels effect". It also constitutes a radical departure from conventional information and communications technology policy by regulating AI ex-ante through a risk-based approach that seeks to prevent certain harmful outcomes based on product safety principles. We offer a review and critique, specifically discussing the AI Act's problematic obligations regarding data quality and human oversight. Our proposal is to take liability seriously as the key regulatory mechanism. This signals to industry that if a breach of law occurs, firms are required to know in particular what their inputs were and how to retrain the system to remedy the breach. Moreover, we suggest differentiating between endogenous and exogenous sources of potential harm, which can be mitigated by carefully allocating liability between developers and deployers of AI technology

Prognostic features for quality of life after radical cystectomy and orthotopic neobladder

Purpose: To analyse prognostic features on quality of life (QoL) following radical cystectomy and urinary diversion via orthotopic neobladder in a single-centre patient cohort. Materials and Methods: Postoperative QoL of 152 patients was assessed retrospectively using the validated QLQ-C30 questionnaire. Potential associations of patient's quality of life including pre-and intraoperative characteristics, surgeon experience, postoperative time course, adjuvant therapies, and functional outcome were defined a priori and evaluated. Mann-Whitney-U-, Kruskal-Wallis-, Spearman correlation and post hoc-testing were used. A multivariate analysis using a multiple logistic regression model was performed. A p value 100 previous cystectomies, p=0.007), and nerve-sparing surgery (p=0.001). Patients who underwent secondary chemotherapy or radiotherapy had significant lower QLQ-C30 scores (p=0.04, p=0.02 respectively). Patients who were asymptomatic had a significantly higher quality of life (p= 100 vs. <100 previous cystectomies, p=0.021), and daytime continence (p=0.032). Conclusion: In the present study, we report health-related QoL outcomes in a contemporary patient cohort and confirm preoperative ECOG status, surgeon experience and daytime incontinence as independent prognostic features for a good postoperative QoL

Prognostic features for quality of life after radical cystectomy and orthotopic neobladder

Purpose: To analyse prognostic features on quality of life (QoL) following radical cystectomy and urinary diversion via orthotopic neobladder in a single-centre patient cohort. Materials and Methods: Postoperative QoL of 152 patients was assessed retrospectively using the validated QLQ-C30 questionnaire. Potential associations of patient's quality of life including pre-and intraoperative characteristics, surgeon experience, postoperative time course, adjuvant therapies, and functional outcome were defined a priori and evaluated. Mann-Whitney-U-, Kruskal-Wallis-, Spearman correlation and post hoc-testing were used. A multivariate analysis using a multiple logistic regression model was performed. A p value 100 previous cystectomies, p=0.007), and nerve-sparing surgery (p=0.001). Patients who underwent secondary chemotherapy or radiotherapy had significant lower QLQ-C30 scores (p=0.04, p=0.02 respectively). Patients who were asymptomatic had a significantly higher quality of life (p= 100 vs. <100 previous cystectomies, p=0.021), and daytime continence (p=0.032). Conclusion: In the present study, we report health-related QoL outcomes in a contemporary patient cohort and confirm preoperative ECOG status, surgeon experience and daytime incontinence as independent prognostic features for a good postoperative QoL

Helping or hurting

Das vorliegende Habilitationsprojekt liefert neue Erkenntnisse über die Entwicklung von, sowie Einflussgrößen auf die gesundheitsbezogene Lebensqualität wichtiger uro-onkologischer Operationen. Der signifikante Einfluss der funktionellen Ergebnisse wurde herausgearbeitet und eine zeitliche Entwicklung der Lebensqualität nach kontinenter sowie inkontinenter Harnableitung nach Zystektomie dargestellt. Mittels moderner, objektiver Messmethoden wurde die Kontinenz nach radikaler Zystektomie neu definiert. Die herausragende Bedeutung der perioperativen Patientenaufklärung im Hinblick auf funktionelle Ergebnisse und Lebensqualität nach radikaler Prostatektomie wurde ausgearbeitet. Der großen Bedeutung der postoperativen Belastungsharninkontinenz wurde Rechnung getragen, indem die wichtigsten Therapiemöglichkeiten dieser die Lebensqualität massiv beeinträchtigenden funktionellen Komplikation gesondert evaluiert wurden. Hierbei konnten erstmalig gute Langzeitergebnisse der transobturatorischen Suspensionsschlinge dargestellt werden. Für den artifiziellen Sphinkter wurden schlechtere Ergebnisse nach penoskrotaler Implantation des AMS 800® sowie allgemein nach Implantation eines ZSI 375® artifiziellen Sphinkters gezeigt. Basierend auf den Arbeiten des Habilitationsprojekts erfolgte die Planung prospektiver Studien zur Evaluation der Lebensqualität nach operativer Therapie des Urothelkarzinoms sowie Prostatakarzinoms. Hiervon werden neue Erkenntnisse hinsichtlich des longitudinalen Verlaufes der Lebensqualität sowie hinsichtlich Einflussfaktoren auf die postoperative Lebensqualität erwartet

Teaching in higher education during COVID 19 pandemic – Empirical findings and assumptions based on results of an online-survey in a European context

[EN] The COVID 19 pandemic is a worldwide phenomenon: On the one hand, it poses challenges to all social subsystems, on the other, it tests the extent to which they can cope with such situations. This is also the case in higher education. In this context, digitization, which has been driven forward in the field for years, provides approaches and instruments for adapting to such situations by converting the system as far as possible to operation in virtual space. This has been done in many places in universities and universities of applied sciences. It remains to be seen how this is perceived by those involved. Therefore, the following article addresses the question: To what extent has the conversion of teaching and learning as a result of the restrictions on teaching caused by COVID 19 worked from the point of view of the teachers? To answer it, this paper presents empirical results of an online survey among teachers of the Cooperation Network for Risk, Safety &amp; Security Studies (CONRIS). The results indicate a broad use of various digital tools for teaching and communication with students, but also deficits in the area of crisis structures as well as in social regards.Schütte, P.; Van Der Sypt, G.; Gabriel, A.; Kretschmer, S. (2021). Teaching in higher education during COVID 19 pandemic – Empirical findings and assumptions based on results of an online-survey in a European context. En 7th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'21). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 189-197. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd21.2021.12905OCS18919

European Copyright Society - comment on copyright and the Digital Services Act proposal

On 15 December 2020, the European Commission submitted a proposal for a regulation on a single market for digital services (Digital Services Act, DSA) and amending Directive 2000/31/EC. The legislative project seeks to establish a robust and durable governance structure for the effective supervision of providers of intermediary services. To this end, the DSA sets out numerous due diligence obligations of intermediaries concerning any type of illegal information, including copyright-infringing content. Empirically, copyright law accounts for most content removal from online platforms, by an order of magnitude. Thus, copyright enforcement online is a major issue in the context of the DSA, and the DSA will be of utmost importance for the future of online copyright in the EU. Against this background, the European Copyright Society takes this opportunity to share its view on the relationship between the copyright acquis and the DSA, as well as further selected aspects of the DSA from a copyright perspective