Africa's health systems should use AI technology in their fight against COVID-19

COVID-19 and its grave impact worldwide has emphasised just how critical it is for African countries to develop their healthcare systems. For the most part, these systems are woefully underfunded and understaffed. It will take many different approaches to repair these systems. Given my area of expertise and my research focus, I am interested in the role that Artificial Intelligence (AI) might play in bolstering the continent's health systems. AI embodies the field of knowledge that seeks to create machines (computers) that can emulate human cognitive functions such as learning, reasoning, understanding, vision, perception, recognition, and problem solving to a reasonable level.