If we use it correctly, artificial intelligence could help us fight the next epidemic – Genetic Literacy Project

It was an AI that first saw it coming, or so the story goes. On December 30, an artificial-intelligence company called BlueDot, which usesmachine learningto monitor outbreaks of infectious diseases around the world, alerted clientsincluding various governments, hospitals, and businessesto an unusual bump in pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China. It would be another nine days before the World Health Organization officially flagged what weve all come to know asCovid-19.

That AI could spot an outbreak on the other side of the world is pretty amazing, and early warnings save lives. But how much has AI really helped in tackling the current outbreak?

The hype outstrips the reality. In fact, the narrative that has appeared in many news reports and breathless press releasesthat AI is a powerful new weapon against diseasesis only partly true and risks becoming counterproductive. For example, too much confidence in AIs capabilities could lead to ill-informed decisions that funnel public money to unproven AI companies at the expense of proven interventions.

So heres a reality check: AI will not save us from the coronaviruscertainly not this time. But theres every chance it will play a bigger role in future epidemicsif we make some big changes.

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If we use it correctly, artificial intelligence could help us fight the next epidemic - Genetic Literacy Project