Can AI/ML prepare us to deal with global crises in post-COVID world?

The world has been caught grossly unprepared to meet the extraordinary challenges posed by the Covid-19 outbreak. The extreme ramifications of the global crisis have already begun to unfold. Businesses across the world are severely impacted and the global economy is heading towards what's said to be the worst global recession since World War II. Over the last few years, enterprises have been leveraging data science, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to draw meaningful insights and make informed decisions. In the light of the current pandemic, we are forced to wonder if things could have been any different.