On Saturday 13 September, visitors to the British Science Festival 2025 in Liverpool were invited to The Bluecoat where they could step into the future of medicine at the AI Puzzle Lab.
Blending science with play, the Puzzle Lab transformed complex health innovations into an interactive, escape-room-style experience. Across the day, festival-goers formed teams and tackled a series of puzzles designed by researchers from Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Liverpool, as part of the EU-funded TARGET project (www.target-horizon.eu).
The scenario centred on a patient at risk of stroke, whose care depended on decisions made using a digital twin, a virtual model of the patient built from real health data alongside cutting-edge AI tools. Participants had to work quickly, making sense of data, testing predictions, and weighing up options, all while racing against the clock.
The puzzles highlighted how AI can support both patients and healthcare professionals, showing the promise of digital twins in creating personalised, data-driven treatment pathways. At the same time, the activity sparked important conversations about the limits of AI and the need for human judgement in medical decision-making.
Professor Deirdre Lane said “We loved seeing the public dive into our project, exploring how AI and digital twins can be used to shape the future of healthcare. There was a real buzz as everyone teamed up to crack the codes and ‘escape the room’—problem-solving at its best!
The AI Puzzle Lab proved to be a festival highlight, demonstrating how interactive storytelling can make complex science engaging, relatable, and thought-provoking.