The surge of sensationalist COVID-19 AI research

There seems to be a tendency to hastily use imperfect and questionable data to train an AI solution for COVID-19, a dangerous trend that not only does not help any patient or physician but also damages the reputation of the AI community. Dealing with a pandemic -- as significant as it is -- does not suspend basic scientific principles. Data has to be curated by medical experts, full and rigorous validations have to be performed, and results have to be reviewed by peers before we deploy any solution or even proposal into the world, particularly when society is dealing with many uncertainties. It is safe to say we are all deeply concerned about the COVID-19 pandemic. This coronavirus has drastically changed our reality: We're experiencing stress, restrictions, quarantines; we're witnessing heroic sacrifices of caregivers including staff, nurses, and physicians; we're losing loved ones; and we're facing economic hardships and massive uncertainties about what is in store in the coming months.