AI could help scientists fact-check covid claims amid a deluge of research

An experimental tool helps researchers wade through the overwhelming amount of coronavirus literature to check whether emerging studies follow scientific consensus. Why it matters: Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a flood of relevant preprints and papers, produced by people with varying degrees of expertise and vetted through varying degrees of peer review. This has made it challenging for researchers trying to advance their understanding of the virus to sort scientific fact from fiction. How it works: The SciFact tool, developed by the Seattle-based research nonprofit Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2), is designed to help with this process. Type a scientific claim into its search bar--say, "hypertension is a comorbidity for covid" (translation: hypertension can cause complications for covid patients)--and it will populate a feed with relevant papers, labeled as either supporting or refuting the assertion.