Researchers want your voice to train coronavirus-detecting AI

Researchers behind an AI app that detects coronavirus in your voice have asked for volunteers to help by uploading audio of them coughing, breathing, and talking. Scientists from Cambridge University will use the data to develop machine learning algorithms that analyze a voice for symptoms of COVID-19. The COVID-19 Sounds App joins a growing list of tools using voice analysis to diagnose the coronavirus. The method remains unproven, but the team believes the sounds made by COVD-19 patients are so specific that they can reveal who has the disease. "Having spoken to doctors, one of the most common things they have noticed about patients with the virus is the way they catch their breath when they're speaking, as well as a dry cough, and the intervals of their breathing patterns," said Cambridge University Professor Cecilia Mascolo, who led the development of the app.