Coronavirus research: AI model detects infection in a person's cough

An algorithm can detect the coronavirus in people who are asymptomatic, just from listening to the way they cough. Coronavirus patients who don't have symptoms still exhibit subtle changes not always detectable by the naked eye - or ear. Researchers at MIT developed an AI-powered model that distinguishes asymptomatic people from uninfected individuals by analyzing recordings of coughs submitted by tens of thousands of volunteers online. The algorithm accurately identified 98.5 percent of coughs from people who tested positive for the virus, including 100 percent of coughs from asymptomatic patients. The team is gathering more samples, with the goal of producing an app that could be a convenient and free pre-screening tool. Researchers at MIT used AI to analyze thousands of coughs and detect differences in those of people with coronavirus.