Portrait Johannes Karg
»It´s important that AI decisions are transparent«

"Stuck in a loop we replay, nothing to feel or to say". The words of the latest song "ATS" by the Munich band Clear Coast echo across the room. The four musicians describe their sound as dream pop. »Live I mainly play guitar, but I also sing a few songs or play the synthesizer«, says Johannes. Depending on the song, a different band member takes the mic, so there is no such thing as a lead singer or lead guitarist in the band, which was founded in 2020. But it's not just on stage that Clear Coast demonstrates pure teamwork; the writing and production of the songs also takes place collaboratively, entirely under their own direction.

For Johannes, music is much more than a hobby, but it is not his main profession. During the day, the 32-year-old conducts research at the Fraunhofer Institute for Cognitive Systems IKS on the trustworthiness of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine. “It is important that the decisions made by AI are transparent,” says Johannes. “This is the only way to ensure that artificial intelligence can be used reliably in safety-critical areas such as healthcare.”

Understanding humans as a whole

Even before the start of his studies, Johannes could imagine working in
research later on. "Medicine was especially exciting for me, because I
really wanted to understand human physiology, biochemistry, and medicine
as a whole." After finishing his Abitur, the Allgäu native moved to
Munich for his medical studies. Through his studies at the Technical
University of Munich, he eventually discovered his fascination with AI
research. A first point of contact: participating in the course Computer
Science for Medical Students. Subsequently, he earned a PhD in the
field of digital medicine and recognized the great potential of
artificial intelligence in medicine.

Little routine, plenty of variety

Since December 2024, Johannes has been working at Fraunhofer IKS in the
“Trustworthy Digital Health” team led by Dr. Katie Fitch. Together with
his colleagues, he researches a broad range of AI applications in
medicine. One research project he is currently working on is AI-assisted
ECG analysis. On the one hand, this can be used to analyze
cardiological diseases, but it also seems possible to detect
non-cardiological conditions such as diabetes. In this regard, Johannes
sees particular potential in its low-threshold accessibility—for example
in general practitioner practices or through the use of wearables that
patients can use at home, which may allow diseases to be detected more
quickly.

Johannes's daily work is varied: it includes validating and developing AI models as well as acquiring projects and communicating with research partners. However, he particularly enjoys project work, especially because it allows him to apply his medical knowledge in a practical way and combine it with his AI expertise.

In addition to music, Johannes finds another balance to his dedicated research work in sports. Tennis is currently very popular with him. But in winter, he can often be found in the mountains, preferably cross-country skiing or snowboarding.

For Johannes, one thing is clear: the use of AI has a wide range of potential in medicine. For example, he hopes that AI will enable more individualized therapies in the future. Especially in the case of chronic diseases, personalized management could become an additional pillar of therapy. Equally important to him is the question of whether and how the decision-making process of doctors will change when they use artificial intelligence in their daily work.

For the coming years he hopes that even more AI research will find its way into clinical practice and that medical staff will also be increasingly supported by AI in administrative tasks.