The Problem With COVID-19 Artificial Intelligence Solutions and How to Fix Them (SSIR)

Private and public entities around the world, particularly in the health care and governance sectors, are developing and deploying a range of artificial intelligence (AI) systems in emergency response to COVID-19. Some of these systems work to track and predict its spread; others support medical response or help maintain social control. Indeed, AI systems can reduce strain on overwhelmed health care systems; help save lives by quickly diagnosing patients, and assessing health declines or progress; and limit the virus's spread. But there's a problem: The algorithms driving these systems are human creations, and as such, they are subject to biases that can deepen societal inequities and pose risks to businesses and society more broadly. In this article, we look at data on the pandemic, share two recent applications of AI, and suggest a number of ways nonprofit and business leaders can help ensure that they develop, manage, and use transformative AI equitably and responsibly.