All 'Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma The "AI & Forensic Medicine" workshop that opens the 47th SIMLA National Congress. President Francesco Introna: "From SIMLA a working group to indicate to programmers which are the reference parameters to use in the various areas and to oversee the irreplaceable role of the medical examiner in the evaluations"
Rome, 17 June 2026 - Transforming scientific debate into concrete planning. This is the challenge that emerged during the workshop. "AI & Forensic Medicine" hosted at the Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma on the eve of the opening of the 47th National Congress of the Italian Society of Legal Medicine and Insurance (SIMLA) which is being held from 18nd June, 10:00 am am, until at the 20 June al Conference Center of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Largo F.Vito, 1)A day of operations, with limited attendance, which brought the medical-legal community into direct contact with the protagonists of technological development, with the aim of building an organic and lasting collaboration.
"The workshop had a pragmatic objective: not to discuss the big issues of artificial intelligence, but to understand what to do to work better in the field of forensic medicine using AI, not only as end users but also entering into the algorithm design level.", he explained the professor Vittoradolfo Tambone, Professor of Forensic Medicine and Bioethics at theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di RomaThis is precisely why a leading industrial player like IBM was involved: "One of the conclusions of the workshop was precisely that of entering, together with a technological player, into the co-design of algorithms".
The heart of the proposal is a methodological paradigm shift. Don't stop the wave, nor even suffer it: learn to ride it. What we provide is a surfboard, so that forensic pathologists, those involved in risk management, bioethics, and forensic psychiatry can use it to the fullest.", he stressed Tambone. "The key shift we'd like to see is from the "human in the loop" paradigm to the "AI in the human loop." To do this, we need to address the system at the purpose and design level, so as to build a tool that works for science, for scientific truth, for justice, and for the common good. This way, we'll ensure that the tool is built specifically for science, not science for the tool.".
A perspective that, as emerged from the conclusions of the workshop, marks the transition from a logic of simple use to that of co-design: AI systems intended for forensic medicine cannot be adapted ex post, but must be developed through a structured collaboration between forensic doctors, data scientists, engineers, jurists and technology companies, so that the discipline's methodology enters into the very design of the algorithmsAI, in this view, is not a shortcut that replaces the professional, but a "reinforcing alteration" that expands their analytical, reconstructive, and interpretative capabilities, according to a new "hybrid medico-legal methodology." The guiding principle is the ethic of work well done, founded on strengthening critical thinking.
He spoke about the strategic value of the event SIMLA President, Professor Emeritus Francesco Introna, who introduced the workshop as "a fireworks display to open the congress", announcing "a working group on artificial intelligence branded SIMLA to begin to indicate to programmers which are the reference parameters to use in the various fields". Then President he highlighted: "Unlike in the past, this is a conference focused on the future: we're not talking about achieved realities, but about the future of forensic medicine. And one of the key themes of the near future is certainly the approach of artificial intelligence, where we don't have major diagnostic problems, but rather problems in projecting our diagnoses and our practices, with obvious judicial and evaluative implications, and with errors that can arise from an incorrect application of AI.".
A concrete risk concerns the evidentiary use of new technologies. "The coroner presented with an x-ray, remade from scratch with artificial intelligence, is unable to unmask it", explains Introna. "And since the magistrate relies on what the coroner says, we would risk unjust convictions or improper acquittals.". The solution, according to the SIMLA president, involves controlling what enters the systems: "We need to look inside the black box, because only by inserting adequate material will we receive adequate answers, otherwise, the outputs will inevitably be unreliable. ". Introna clarifies the border: "It's fine to use AI to report historical and clinical data, but from the physical examination onward, and especially in the evaluation, the decision is the product of the expert's processing. They can use artificial intelligence to broaden the picture, but the final decision, the one that must stand up in court, is theirs and theirs alone. Otherwise, it's an ideological forgery committed by a public official.".
A look at the evolutionary trajectories of technology comes from Dr. Luca Di Piramo, Senior AI Specialist at IBM Consulting. "The evolution of AI is changing the relationship between people, processes and data - observe -. NellTraditional AI requires comprehensive data to train specific models; with GenAI,attention shifts to the quality and certification of the information context that anchors generalist models.'Agentic AI goes further: it does not limit itself to understanding, but coordinates processes and interacts with external systems, requiring interoperability and more robust governance of flows". A reflection that reverberates in the healthcare sector in a specific way: " In this sector, the role of the professional is transformed, becoming an active supervisor and clinical guarantor. Guardrails, traceability, and human oversight of the entire process become essential. If GenAI amplifies content risks,'Agent AI amplifies those on stocks". It is a decisive change because it passes "from systems that predict, to systems that understand, to systems that act and governance must become increasingly end-to-end to safely accompany this new operational capability".
Indicating the direction of the future work of forensic doctors is SIMLA National Secretary, Lucio Di Mauro"The next step will be to transform scientific discussion into concrete planning: stable working groups, lines of applied research, dedicated training courses, and shared operational tools. Innovation, including generative AI, warns Di Mauro, must be governed with moderation because "It must enter forensic medicine not as a shortcut, but as an opportunity to raise the quality of medical-legal services, in compliance with its essential ethical and deontological principles, preserving freedom of scientific expression, always based on evidence and oriented towards offering a contribution to the search for truth in the interest of the entire community.".
A vision that finds natural continuity in the words of the Professor Paola Frati, Congress president, SIMLA councilor and full professor of Forensic Medicine at Sapienza University of Rome - which shifts the focus to the value of the workshop “It was strongly desired as a pre-conference event entirely dedicated to a highly topical topic: artificial intelligence. Thanks to the workshop's scientific director, Professor Tambone, we were able to engage with a key player like IBM to understand how forensic medicine can concretely utilize AI without being subjected to it, creating programs that can develop it in a practical way. We discussed its application in emerging fields: therefore, not only forensic pathology, but also, for example, clinical risk and risk management.
The criminal aspect is particularly delicate, where people's freedom is at stake. Antonio Oliva, president of the congress, SIMLA Councilor and full professor of Forensic Medicine at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, which is hosting the congress, speaks about it: "In the criminal sector, where scientific evidence directly impacts people's freedom, forensic medicine must be able to define which biological or forensic phenomena require advanced analysis, which variables should be considered relevant, and which margins of uncertainty are compatible with the principle of reasonable doubt.". Only in this way, he underlines Professor Antonio Oliva, artificial intelligence "It can be useful if it works with traceable, verifiable, and reproducible data, in full compliance with due process guarantees. Forensic medicine, in fact, deals with unrepeatable events and complex contexts: the specialist's experience allows for the integration of data, uncertainties, and legal implications. The goal is not to delegate, but to enhance the quality of the investigation.".
