AI helped limit spread of Covid-19 in the Gulf, experts hear

Artificial intelligence has been vital in controlling the spread of the coronavirus in the Arabian Gulf, a health conference has been told. Technology has forecast the pandemic's development and informed residents when they have been in contact with infected individuals, the Riyadh Global Digital Health Summit heard. The summit was also told that the rapid growth in telemedicine – such as video or telephone consultations – is not likely to be reversed when the pandemic is over. However, experts cautioned that organisations were not doing enough to share vital data that could save lives and certain ethical concerns about the use of data had not been resolved. Dr Esam Al Wagait, director of Saudi Arabia's National Information Centre, said the Kingdom's artificial intelligence (AI) based Covid-19 Index had been crucial in forecasting the virus's spread locally, including which areas would be most heavily affected and how many people would fall ill.