Artificial Intelligence (Ai) Helping The World During The Ongoing Covid-19 Pandemic
Corona virus which has created a havoc around the world by constantly mutating and becoming more powerful with every passing day needs a modern-day solution the likes of artificial intelligence (AI). But what is AI? It is the branch of science that deals with developing machines that display intelligence and problem-solving ability just like humans. During the ongoing pandemic, technologies such as AI, Machine learning among others have been a helping hand for healthcare service providers and government. AI has been successfully used in identification of the disease, monitoring of infected patients, early diagnosis, disease management, understand the genetic structure of the virus in detail and in vaccine development, among others. Various governments have used AI in contact tracing. Various countries have developed their own contact tracing app for the purpose, few are listed below:
- Australia: Australian government announced COVIDSafe as an official contact tracing app on 14 April 2020 to fight the pandemic. The app is based on blue trace.
- Brazil: The app launched by the public ministry is called as “To de Olho” according to reports it is a multipurpose app which has contact tracing, agglomeration denunciation and selective infectious testing. It was launched on 4 April 2020.
- Canada: Canadian federal government launched “COVIDAlert”. The best thing about this app is that it does not have any access to personal information like GPS location, username, or their contact. It uses Bluetooth technology to check and share random list of codes from any nearby person who have tested positive.
- China: In China government has deployed an app in conjugation with Alipay and Wechat. It allows citizen to check if they have been in contact with the infected person.
- France: In France “StopCovid” app was launched on 2 June 2020. It is also a contact tracing app, based on Bluetooth. Later the app was named as “TousAntiCovid” which includes a news section and a forms section to generate a travel declaration when going out during lockdown.
- India: In India, the contact-based app was developed by the National Informatics Centre and the app is called as ‘Aarogya Setu’. It uses Bluetooth, location, and GPS to trace the location and inform if any corona positive person is present near them or not.
Some of the benefits and effectiveness of AI
AI in controlling Misinformation.
As the cases of corona virus started going up, there was a tsunami of information all over the social media. Misinformation was travelling faster when compared to correct information. It was impossible for humans to separate all the misinformation. AI did its job very well in removing misinformation. According to the data 1,70,000 tweets have been removed on COVID that were tweeted from fake accounts across china.
AI in Identifying Mask Violators
Artificial intelligence also helps in in identifying those without mask. In Telangana, India police department has installed a software in CCTV cameras which helps in identifying the mask violators. After identifying it immediately to the police headquarters which sends a notification to the patrolling police team.
AI in providing Treatment.
Due to lack of health care workers AI has proven affective for giving Tele-medicines and Tele-consultation in many states like Chhattisgarh. In many places around the world robots are being used for sanitization. Alumni from IIT and Stanford Alumni have developed a machine called ‘Robo Sapien’. It controls the spread of virus by ionizing the corona discharge.
AI in developing drugs and vaccines
AI allows the identification of vaccines bit faster through computational analysis that can be helpful for clinical trials. Researchers from MIT are collaborating with IBM, to develop a software that can assist physicians to find ventilator settings that will determine, how long a patient needs to be kept in the machine. This technology is important in two ways: 1. The ventilator can be further used by other patients who are in a critical condition. 2.Shortened ventilation time will allow those to use the machine who needs it. IBM Watson Health uses a database for determining the right medication for a patient.
AI in Remote monitoring
When hospitals are overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients, in such condition those with mild symptoms can be treated at their homes. The regular update of the condition can be given using an AI. AI assisted analysis will also alerts the staff sitting in the lab/hospital about the deteriorating condition of the patient and then rapid action can be taken.
Outlook for 2021-2022
As per the report titled “Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthcare” published by UnivDatos Market Insights. In 2018, robotic surgery dominated the application segment of global AI in healthcare market, generating revenue of US$ 8,589 million, followed by virtual nursing assistance and administrative workflow. AI has helped people in many ways and in coming future if the conditions do not get better, AI will surely be very helpful in variety of ways. As AI is cost effective and allows quality treatment people from various strata of the society will be benefited.