On the 16th of March we brought together 11 Youth Advisors from across Italy, the Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, and the UK for our latest Youth Advisory Group (YAG) session! We were joined by three fantastic guest speakers:
Karim Lekadir (ICREA Professor, University of Barcelona & Director of BCN-AIM Lab) gave a brilliant introduction to AI, from how neural networks mirror human learning, to the real-world implications of bias in medical AI. Using examples from the AI4HF and AIMIX projects, Karim showed why involving communities, including young people, in designing AI systems is essential.
Elena Novelli and Maria Bulgheroni (Ab.Acus srl) then walked the group through the YOUTHreach App, a smartphone-based tool designed to help track mental health patterns in young people through both passive sensor monitoring and active check-ins.
Our Youth Advisors brought their insight and honesty to the session, raising questions about data transparency, AI reliability in healthcare, notification fatigue, and how gamification features like streaks and badges could improve engagement with the YOUTHreach app.
A huge thank you to Karim, Elena, and Maria for giving their time and sharing their work so accessibly, and to every one of our Youth Advisors for showing up to these sessions with curiosity and interest!
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