Workshop
Agency and Ethics of Algorithmic Faces in Medicine and Healthcare
A Transdisciplinary Workshop
13–14 April 2026
TUM Think Tank
Richard-Wagner-Straße 1, 80333 Munich
Technical University of Munich
Rationale
This workshop examined the social and ethical implications of face image analysis in medicine and healthcare, enabled through deep learning and algorithmic matching techniques. The human face has become a source of medically relevant information, from subtle indicators of genetic conditions to expressions of pain and well-being. With the rapid acceleration of AI and proliferation of automated recognition, face analysis in clinical and healthcare settings is expanding. Algorithmic analysis of facial features and expressions is now being integrated into various contexts, including the diagnosis of rare diseases, pain assessment, and mental health screenings. While these technologies promise potential for medical innovation, better diagnostic accuracy, or faster decision-making, they also prompt crucial discussions about data governance, trust, and equity in healthcare. In this workshop, we addressed how they raise questions of patient data privacy and anonymization, the protection and interoperability of sensitive health information, the need for explainable and understandable algorithms, and social discrimination related to bias and fairness in AI.
The goal of this workshop is to explore an ethical framework that integrates insights from clinicians, computer scientists, patient representatives, philosophers, and social scientists. By bridging these disciplines, it aims to collaboratively discuss whether and how AI technologies, such as automated facial analysis, are not only technically innovative, but also equitable, transparent, and trustworthy tools in diagnostic medicine and healthcare.
Keynote Professor Helena Machado, Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon
Helena examines how facial recognition and emotion analysis technologies take shape and become sites of contestation, analyzing the roles of scientists, tech companies, and activist networks in shaping debates over how computer vision “reads” human feelings. She explores how these systems move between contexts like security and healthcare, where they blur the line between care and surveillance and reconfigure social and political life in the age of AI. more
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Keynote Dr. Diana Miranda, University of Stirling
Diana’s research interests focus on emerging biometric and data driven technologies, particularly on their impacts in the Criminal Justice System. From visual surveillance technologies (such as body-worn cameras or facial recognition) to identification technologies (such as fingerprinting and DNA), and AI tools used to detect emotional states.
Her research projects explore how surveillance impacts notions of identity through processes of technologically mediated suspicion: in predictive policing and criminal investigation, security of prisons and smart cities. more
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Objectives
Evaluation
Evaluate existing ethical, legal, and social frameworks governing the research and use of facial images in algorithmic applications
Dialogue
Promote transdisciplinary dialogue among experts in AI, medicine, law, ethics, and the social sciences, and initiate ongoing collaborations for ethical evaluation practices.
Ethics
Lay the groundwork for an ethical framework that can guide the responsible use of facial analysis in medicine healthcare and offer practical recommendations.
Responsibility
Advance responsibility and accountability in the use of AI in medicine and healthcare.
Attendees
Sabina Leonelli, Technical University of Munich
Helena Machado, Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon
Diana Miranda, University of Stirling
Kristina Grünenberg, Roskilde University
Massimo Leone, University of Turin
Alvaro Sabater Garriz, Universitat de les Illes Balears
Ľudmila Lackovà Bennett, Charles University in Prague
Natascha Niessen, Technical University of Munich
Devon Schiller, University of Vienna
Gregory Rogel, University of Kentucky
Astrid Diederichs, Smith-Magenis Advocacy Group Germany (Sirius e.V.)
Paul Trauttmansdorff, Technical University of Munich
Federica Frabetti, University of Roehampton
Deborah Mascalzoni, Uppsala University
Lisette Jong, Center for Humanities of Nature, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin
Kim M. Hajek, Technical University of Munich
Emma Cavazzoni, Technical University of Munich
Rena Alcalay, Technical University of Munich
Silvia Milano, Technical University of Munich
Joyce Koranteng-Acquah, Technical University of Munich
Giulia Ruggieri, University of Teramo
Marc Mehu, Vienna Webster Private University
Victoria Kontrus, Vienna Centre for Societal Security
Konradin Schuchter, Hochschule für Film and Fernsehen
Jonas Fischer, Technical University of Munich
Natalia Gomez Munoz, Technical University of Munich
Nathalia Uribe, Technical University of Munich
Organizers
The workshop is organized by the Chair for Philosophy and History of Science and Technology at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Ethical Data Initiative.
The organizers acknowledge the financial support provided by the Friedrich Schiedel
Fellowship Program for Technology in Society (2025-2026) and the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST). The workshop is hosted by the TUM Think Tank at the Munich School of Politics and Public Policy.
Interested in participating?
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