How Artificial Intelligence can help fight COVID-19

The pandemic caused by COVID-19 is the first global public health crisis of the 21st century. And today, multiple AI-powered projects based on data science, 'machine learning' or'big data', are being used across a broad range of fields to predict, explain and manage the different scenarios caused by the health crisis. AI is being used to support and help those making decisions. "No decisions, at any step, are fully and exclusive delegated on the algorithm," explains Nuria Oliver, data scientist, who holds a Ph.D. from the Media Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is the Regional Government of Valencia's commissioner on AI matters. In the context of the pandemic, AI is being applied and delivering results in three fields: in virus research and the development of drugs and vaccines; in the management of services and resources at healthcare centers; and in the analysis of data to support public policy decisions aimed at managing the crisis, such as the confinement measures.