On 1 July 2026, HINT.GENT welcomed its members to HINT.CONNECT 2026 at the NOBEL 1 auditorium and foyer on the UZ Gent campus. The annual networking event brought together researchers, clinicians, healthcare professionals and other members of the HINT.GENT community for an afternoon of inspiration, reflection and connection.
After a welcome by Prof. Barbara Vanderstraeten, Chair of HINT.GENT, the event opened with an update on recent HINT.GENT activities and planned initiatives. These included the HINT.GENT Science Conference on 11 September, for which registrations are now open, the Innovator Summit on 27 November, and the development of a postgraduate programme on digital literacy and AI in healthcare. This postgraduate programme will start in the academic year 2027-2028.
Dr. Isabelle Dehaene then gave an inspiring session on clinical prediction models and AI. Her talk highlighted both the potential and the methodological pitfalls of prediction models in clinical practice. Using concrete examples, she emphasized the importance of clearly defining the population for which a model is intended, dealing carefully with missing data, validating models in representative settings, and looking beyond performance metrics such as AUC alone. Calibration, external validation and clinical usefulness are essential if AI-based prediction models are to be translated responsibly into practice.
Prof. Tom Braekeleirs then presented the main ideas from the book Acceptable AI. His presentation focused on the human side of AI adoption, trust and responsibility. Rather than approaching AI only through hype or fear, he argued for a balanced and critically optimistic attitude. In healthcare, this means asking whether AI applications are desirable, feasible, viable, ethical, legal, causally grounded and explainable. He also underlined the importance of education, critical thinking and keeping human expertise central as AI becomes more embedded in care.
The afternoon concluded with a networking reception in the NOBEL 1 foyer, where participants had the opportunity to meet colleagues, exchange ideas and explore future collaborations within the HINT.GENT network.