AI against COVID-19: How Artificial Intelligence is Helping Fight the Pandemic

From the epicenter in China to the whole world, coronavirus has led to millions of death in just a few months span. Along with this tragic loss of life, the virus has caused a huge impact on the global economy as well. 

The rate of use of artificial intelligence has been growing exponentially in the past decade. But with the advent of the pandemic, various new uses of artificial intelligence have been discovered and brought to practice. People have become more reliant on technology as we practice social distancing and work-from-home options. 

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are being used in various sectors to make informed decisions for the welfare of society. Artificial intelligence has helped in fighting the pandemic. Read below to find out how artificial intelligence is helping in fighting against COVID-19. 

Early Diagnosis:
High-risk patients are being actively identified at an earlier stage with the help of artificial intelligence.  Therefore, it helps to control the spread of this harmful infection. It is highly crucial at this time of crisis as today’s need is real-time monitoring of this disease and then self-isolation to stop the spread of the virus. 

New diagnosis and management systems for COVID-19 can be developed using artificial intelligence. Mayo Clinic is a platform that is allowing the self-assessment of COVID-19 symptoms and suggests ways to protect during pandemics. 

Prediction and Tracking 
Artificial Intelligence is also being used in developing mathematical models to study the rate of transmission of COVID-19. The mathematical models that are used for the same include- 1. SIR (Susceptible, Infectious, and Recovered) model 2. GLEaM (Global Epidemic and Mobility) Model 3. TRANSMIS (Transportation Analysis and Simulation) system 4. IBM (Individual-Based Model). 

These models can be used to predict the number of positive cases of COVID-19 and its rate of transmission theoretically. They can also be used to identify the most vulnerable regions by tracking the number of confirmed cases and taking actions to curb the disease. Furthermore, SIR models are used to find out the spread of disease and rate of infection among the isolated populations. 

Controlling Spread of Misinformation 
Artificial intelligence also helps to control the spread of misinformation during this crisis. Series of false medical information and conspiracy theories are being spread on social media a lot. Personalized AI technology is being used by social media to stop the spread of misinformation across their platform. Artificial intelligence can make the process of screening false information regarding COVID-19 faster. 

Curative Research Artificial Intelligence
The absence of a perfect or definitive cure for coronavirus has hugely troubled the scientific community. Artificial intelligence has proven quite helpful in this case. A British startup, Exiscienta has become the first company to present an AI-designed drug molecule that has gone for human trials. Traditional methods take around five years to complete the process of developing the cure while Artificial intelligence has reduced it to one year. Also, the development of antibodies and vaccines for coronavirus can also be carried out by AI. 

For instance, a Google-based company named Deep Mind is developing a structural model of proteins that have been linked with the virus to aid science world comprehension of the virus. The results have not been verified yet but it is a step in the right direction. 

Facial Recognition and Fever Detector AI
Thermal cameras are being used to detect people with fever. However, the need for human operators makes this a little drawback to technology. Artificial intelligence has developed devices and techniques to overcome this drawback. New techniques have been launched that takes us one step further towards the elimination of COVID-19

Nowadays, cameras that possess AI-based multisensory technologies are being used at airports, hospitals, nursing homes, etc to track people with similar symptoms. This technology detects people with fever automatically. It tracks their movements, recognizes their faces, and also detects whether a person is wearing a facemask or not. 

Intelligent Drones and Robots
Strict social distancing measures taken to control the spread of coronavirus have led us to the use of intelligent drones and robots. In addition to this, some drones are used to track individuals not wearing facemasks in public while other drones or robots are used to spread awareness among larger audiences and disinfect public places as well. 

MicroMultiCopter, a Shenzhen-based company, deployed drones to transport quarantine materials and medical samples which eventually help to lessen virus transmission risk. Moreover, robots are being used for medicine and food delivery to patients which reduces risk to healthcare workers. Room cleaning and sterilization of isolation wards have also been done by robots.

Bottom Line 
AI has become successful in early diagnosis, tracking, controlling the spread of misinformation, development of potential drugs, and much more. Artificial intelligence is one of the resources that provide us with cost-effective, time-saving, and reliable solutions.