All The Ways AI Can Help Us Fight This Pandemic

At present, the whole world is going through a pandemic of an infectious disease called Coronavirus, or COVID-19. With more than 2,00,000 people infected, the United States has the world’s largest outbreak while Italy has recorded more deaths than any other country in the world.

As the pandemic continues to grow, researchers are trying to learn more about the virus for finding out ways to cure the disease. The symptoms of COVID-19 resemble that of the common cold, along with fever, cough and shortness of breath.

As of April 3, 2020, the virus has infected 1,016,395 people worldwide, and the number of deaths totaled 53,238. The most severely affected countries across the world include the U.S., Italy, Spain, and China. Read this to get the latest updates on Corona.

Uses of Artificial Intelligence in Detecting Corona

The rapid and global spread of the novel Coronavirus within a short span of time has greatly affected the global economy. The efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus to reduce the loss of human lives have now become the ultimate priority.

As of April 1, 2020, the outbreak of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been confirmed in around 203 countries or territories, says Statista.

Hospitals and healthcare workers are looking for ways to control the spread of this deadly disease. They are relying on technology to track and fight the pandemic. Amidst the critical situation, Artificial Intelligence with its incredible potential, has emerged as a major tool to fight against the pandemic.

‘How to use Artificial Intelligence for controlling COVID-19?’ is a popular question now. Here in this blog, I have discussed some important uses of AI to detect Corona. Let’s read these in detail.

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To Identify and Forecast Outbreaks

The faster we track the virus, the faster we can fight it. Did you know Artificial Intelligence algorithms can be used to track the virus? Advanced AI techniques can detect an outbreak and forecast it before it actually happens.

BlueDot, a Canadian startup is using AI to detect Corona. It helps in tracking infectious disease risks with the help of Artificial Intelligence. BlueDot isn't the only startup that is using advanced AI and machine learning techniques to combat the spread of coronavirus.

The idea of BlueDot is to predict a pandemic like COVID-19 in its early stages to help curb its spread before it even begins! Besides this, AI-powered chatbots are also being actively used to stop the spread of misinformation regarding the Coronavirus.

Nanox, a MedTech company based in Israel has made a digital X-ray system that uses AI cloud-based software for detecting and identifying infections.

With the help of AI algorithms, researchers have trained neural networks to predict the spread of infectious diseases. This is one of the major uses of Artificial Intelligence in detecting Corona. Let’s read more on the uses of Artificial Intelligence in detecting Corona.

Drones to Deliver Medical Supplies

In a critical situation like that of a disease outbreak, offering medical supplies is a daunting task. When such a situation arises, then drone delivery is the safest way to render medical supplies during a disease outbreak.

Japanese Company Terra Drone is using unmanned aerial vehicles for transporting medical samples and quarantine material between Xinchang County’s disease control centre and the People’s Hospital, says a report

Tech giant Google is thinking about using AI-powered drones to deliver medical aid in case of emergency. This is how big enterprises are using AI to fight Corona. No wonder, driven by Artificial Intelligence, these drones are an apt reply to- How to use Artificial Intelligence for controlling COVID-19?

With the help of AI-enabled medical delivery drones, the speed of transport has increased which has made things less difficult for the healthcare workers. Thus using AI against Corona has proved to be an efficient measure to prevent the deadly epidemic.

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To Diagnose the Virus

AI solutions allow the health workers to detect and identify the disease. AI-driven diagnosis systems help doctors in detecting the virus. This helps in detecting the virus in less time. Alibaba, a Chinese e-commerce giant also used an AI- driven diagnosis system to diagnose the disease. 

The eCommerce giant also claims that the system is 96% accurate at diagnosing the virus in seconds. All thanks to the uses of AI to detect Corona.

Besides healthcare, Artificial Intelligence offers incredible benefits to other industry verticals such as travel, eCommerce, finance, sales, etc. AI will contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy in 2030. You can set up a team of AI developers to incorporate AI techniques to boost business revenues.

Robots to Sterilize & Deliver Food

As the disease spreads so quickly, even with a human touch, in order to reduce the amount of human-to-human contact, AI-driven robots are used to perform multiple tasks such as cleaning and sterilizing infected places. These robots help in delivering food and medicines to the patients too. Clearly, it is one of the most incredible uses of Artificial Intelligence in detecting Corona.

Blue Ocean Robotics makes UVD robots that use ultraviolet light to autonomously kill bacteria and viruses. UVD Robot is a mobile robot that is used to disinfect hospitals and pharmacy industries. Pudu Technology, a Chinese company that makes robots has installed its machines in more than 40 hospitals around the country to help medical staff during the outbreak, says a report.

If you are still wondering about how to use Artificial Intelligence for controlling COVID-19, then reading further will certainly be of great help.

To Identify Infected Individuals

AI-driven smart drones and robots are one of the best uses of Artificial Intelligence in detecting Corona. A surveillance system developed by China to control the pandemic used AI techniques for identifying individuals infected with Corona. The system uses facial recognition and temperature detection software to detect infected individuals.

AI-enabled "smart helmets" are being used to identify people with fevers. This is one of the most interesting uses of AI to detect Corona.

To identify and assess the risk of individuals getting infected with Corona, the Chinese government has also developed a monitoring system called Health Code. The system uses big data to analyze the travel history of each individual, how much time each individual has spent in spots infected with the virus, and potential exposure to people that carry the virus.

Healthcare staff are using AI systems that use artificial intelligence and infrared sensors to predict people’s temperature in public places. This helps in identifying those infected with Corona.

To Work on Coronavirus Vaccine

To control the widespread of this epidemic, big enterprises are using AI to fight Corona. They are working on the development of a vaccine to cure the disease. AI techniques help in extracting relevant insights with great accuracy at a faster rate.

Businesses make use of AI-driven systems that have the potential to run calculations and model solutions much faster than standard computer processing. This is indeed one of the most prominent uses of AI to detect Corona.

The Bottomline

By now, I am sure you have a clear idea of How to use Artificial Intelligence for controlling COVID-19. In a global pandemic such as COVID-19, technologies such as artificial intelligence, and data science are playing a vital role in dealing with the outbreak.

Other preventive measures by the policymakers to prevent the spread of this deadly disease are being made too. Governments across the world have halted flights, locked down towns and cities and urged people to stay at home, says BBC.