On December 30, researchers using artificial intelligence systems to comb through media and social platforms detected the spread of an unusual flu-like illness in Wuhan, China. It would be days before the World Health Organization released a risk assessment and a full month before the UN agency declared a global public health emergency for the novel coronavirus. Could the AI systems have accelerated the process and limited, or even arrested, the extent of the COVID-19 pandemic? Clark Freifeld, a Northeastern University computer scientist working with the global disease surveillance platform HealthMap, one of the systems detecting the outbreak, said it remains an open question. "We identified the early signals, but the reality is it's hard to tell when you have an unidentified respiratory illness if it's a really serious situation," said Freifeld.

The new coronavirus is now officially a pandemic, and researchers are speeding to discover, test and deploy a vaccine. Some are hoping that breakthrough biotechnology and artificial intelligence can get us there faster. Much of the funding and development of a COVID-19 vaccine is likely to happen privately. The $8 billion coronavirus funding bill passed by the U.S. government includes just $800 million for the National Institutes of Health, where official U.S. vaccine research and development happens, but which is chronically underfunded. I asked Michael Greeley, co-founder and general partner with biotech investment fund Flare Capital in Boston, what uses AI could have in dealing with coronavirus.

In this Thursday, July 11, 2019, photograph, United States Department of Agriculture intern Alex Olsen prepares to place down a drone at a research farm northeast of Greeley, Colo. After a brief, snaking flight above the field, the drone landed and the researchers removed a handful of memory cards. Back at their computers, they analyzed the images for signs the corn was stressed from a lack of water. This U.S. Department of Agriculture station outside Greeley and other sites across the Southwest are experimenting with drones, specialized cameras and other technology to squeeze the most out of every drop of water in the Colorado River – a vital but beleaguered waterway that serves an estimated 40 million people. Should they still be able to use it?

Uber has killed off taxi service--it is a dying industry. AIRBNB is taking market share from hotels and motels--which is why lobbyists are swarming city hall to create regulations to make it more expensive and less available for property owners to use their private property. Fast food places are introducing robots to produce food, kiosks to take orders and payments. Hospitals are using robots to sanitize rooms and agriculture is developing driverless tractors. Now the legal profession is being hit is computer disruption.