How AI Is Helping in the Fight Against COVID-19

Artificial intelligence technologies such as machine learning, natural-language processing, computer vision, and deep learning can help track and identify the novel coronavirus. On Dec. 31, BlueDot, a Toronto-based company that uses artificial intelligence to track the spread of infectious diseases, alerted its customers about a cluster of unusual pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China. Nine days later, the World Health Organization confirmed the discovery of a novel coronavirus, later named COVID-19, in Wuhan. Today, COVID-19 is a pandemic that has spread to 180 countries, claimed more than 50,000 lives, and triggered a near-global lockdown. And for the moment, the best solution to contain the spread of the virus is to improve personal hygiene and exercise social distancing.