AI - An Essential Tool to Fight the Coronavirus Pandemic?

By: Natalie Samson

The global impact of the Coronavirus pandemic has left the world facing new, unprecedented challenges in the defense against this highly contagious virus. With the death toll exceeding that of former contenders such as SARS and the Bird Flu, there is clearly a need to contain and manage the pandemic in the most proficient way possible.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be the ultimate technology to contain the devastating effects whilst being a proficient tool to analyze the intricacies of how the virus spreads . However, is AI truly reliable enough to fight the pandemic in lieu of experienced, trained and qualified human-beings?

AI has the potential to shield the population from infection in various ways. Firstly, facial recognition cameras and location-based contact tracing can be used to identify those who have tested positive for the virus and monitor their movement and exposures. Secondly, AI drones are already patrolling, ensuring that people stay quarantined. AI may be used to minimize fatality and optimize disease management, as it can provide faster diagnostic checks . This technology can even speed up drug and vaccine development by scanning through existing drugs and perhaps even helping to design a vaccine . Another option is the use of monitoring bracelets that will alert the authorities when infected individuals neglect the quarantines. Lastly AI tools are now being designed to detect fevers and virus symptoms.

However, there are various negative implications of AI, raising serious human right’s concerns. For example, while surveillance technology may aid to contain the pandemic, it can violate an individual’s freedom of movement. Moreover, AI relies on a large amount of data to produce accurate results, thus, using cell-phone data to track individuals may lead to a breach of privacy and a violation of civil liberties . Ultimately, though employing AI may make us forgo important human touch, expertise and critical thinking in fighting the disease.

Things can be done now to prevent abuse: data anonymization and tracking only larger groups may avoid data privacy infringements. In addition time limitation on monitoring technologies may prevent the technology from being employed after the virus is no longer a threat. And lastly, there must be a constraint on the use of the data collected to ensure that any data gathered is only utilized for the current situation .

Overall, AI can help to save lives, however, it will not prevent a recurrence of the pandemic or replace the roles of human experts in the battle against the Coronavirus. While heavy reliance on Artificial Intelligence is tempting in such challenging times, especially when people are desperate for rapid solutions, there are still dangers in relying solely on AI. In the final analysis, AI can be utilized and beneficial in the fight against Coronavirus, but it must be done in an ethical manner, as a tool to aid human expertise.