Among the 286 respondents to the satisfaction survey, 205 (72%) were in their 20s and 30s. This group included 43 (15%) undergraduate students and 65 (23%) graduate students, emphasizing the significant involvement of young and emerging researchers and students. Regarding their occupations, the attendees comprised 74 (26%) researchers, 27 (9%) professors, 34 (12%) industry professionals, and 43 (15%) from various other fields. This diverse representation underscores the broad appeal and interdisciplinary nature of the conference.

The opening session, led by Organizing Committee Chairman In-Young Choi, focused on the theme “From Vision to Value: AI’s Role in Shaping Modern Healthcare.” Choi emphasized the importance of shifting discussions about AI from theoretical concepts to practical applications in everyday life and clinical settings. She also noted the increasing interest in large language models (LLMs) at the American Medical Informatics Association and expressed her hope that the symposium would serve as a platform for sharing AI-driven research findings, enhancing healthcare environments, and improving patient care.

Society President Ho-Seong Han further emphasized the transformative potential of AI in healthcare, predicting its pivotal role in diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis prediction. He highlighted AI’s ability to bridge healthcare disparities by supporting underserved populations and broadening access to medical innovations.

The Information Medical Science Award was presented to Professor Taehoon Ko of the Catholic University of Korea in recognition of his contributions to AI-driven research that addresses real-world clinical challenges. Professor Ko emphasized the multidisciplinary nature of medical informatics and called for increased collaboration among experts from various fields. He highlighted the importance of medical informatics in merging information technology and AI to improve healthcare systems.

The Beom-San Special Lecture, delivered by Jong-Sung Hwang, President of the National Information Society Agency, was centered on the theme, “The AI Transformation Era: Collaboration and Infrastructure as Key Enablers.” During his presentation, Hwang highlighted the significant impact of AI on various industries, particularly emphasizing its benefits in healthcare. He consistently underscored the critical role of collaboration, noting that data sharing and cooperative initiatives are essential for the effective implementation of AI technologies. Furthermore, Hwang pointed out that the success of AI depends greatly on the quality of data and the development of strong technical and regulatory infrastructure.

In the keynote speech, Professor Jong-Cheol Ye from KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) discussed the transformative effects of generative AI in the medical field. His presentation explored the use of diffusion models and LLMs in enhancing medical imaging techniques, such as speeding up magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) processes, reducing noise, and automating interpretation. He highlighted the significant influence of generative AI on medical image diagnostics, demonstrating how AI effectively eliminates noise in MRI scans and improves the analysis of chest X-rays through self-supervised learning. Additionally, Professor Ye introduced the concept of foundation models, which are characterized by their ability to learn without labels, exhibit emergent capabilities, and achieve superior generalization. These models are particularly advantageous for analyzing medical data. He also covered multimodal contrastive learning, a method that combines image and text data to increase the accuracy of diagnostics. In his concluding remarks, Professor Ye emphasized the pivotal role that generative AI and foundation models are poised to play in the future of healthcare. He noted that these technologies will enhance medical decision-making through self-supervised learning and emergent intelligence.

During the 3-day symposium, various tutorial and symposium sessions offered profound insights into the evolving landscape of digital healthcare and medical informatics. Discussions covered a wide range of topics, including applications of the Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT), implementation of the International Patient Summary (IPS), AI-driven clinical decision support, data standardization, nursing informatics, and ethical considerations in AI development. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the key sessions and their implications for the future of healthcare.

The Industry-Supported Symposia focused on AI, cloud computing, and data security within the healthcare sector. AITRICS unveiled AITRIC-VC, an AI-powered early warning system designed to detect patient deterioration. Lemon Healthcare demonstrated a mobile app that streamlines hospital workflows. MEGAZONE Healthcare presented its cloud-based hospital management systems, whereas EZ-CareTech highlighted the importance of electronic medical record security, emphasizing encryption and access control. NAVER Cloud introduced AI-driven cybersecurity solutions that ensure compliance and data protection. These sessions underscored the critical importance of AI ethics, transparency, and collaboration across the industry, which are key to shaping the future of digital healthcare.

The conference introduced an innovative feature this year: the e-poster session. This session allowed selected researchers who had outstanding poster presentations to also give brief on-site talks. These presentations were complemented by live Q&A sessions with the audience, facilitating a dynamic and interactive exchange of research ideas. This new approach received positive feedback from both presenters and attendees, enhancing the overall academic discourse.

Another innovative initiative was the video sketch project spearheaded by the student reporters team. Alongside producing the Daily KOSMI newspaper, these student journalists also created video content that was distributed through the official KOSMI YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@kosmi1987) (Figure 1). Notably, a video sketch that captured the highlights of the conference’s second day was edited into a short video and showcased during the evening banquet on that same day. This prompt release of content garnered an enthusiastic response from attendees, boosting engagement and fostering a more immersive conference experience.

As a whole, the 2024 Fall Academic Conference of KOSMI demonstrated the significant impact of AI on contemporary healthcare, highlighting the shift from theoretical discussions to practical implementations. The extensive participation of researchers, clinicians, industry experts, and students underscored the interdisciplinary approach essential to medical informatics. Prominent presentations on AI-enhanced clinical decision support, data standardization, IPS implementation, and nursing informatics emphasized the need for collaboration and technological progress to enhance patient care. Additionally, industry-supported symposia showcased the integration of AI, cloud computing, and data security within healthcare systems, emphasizing the importance of ethical considerations and regulatory compliance. As AI continues to propel healthcare innovation, the insights and partnerships developed at this conference will provide a solid foundation for future advancements, ensuring that digital health solutions are effective, secure, and broadly accessible.