You are free to share this article under the Attribution 4.0 International license. To more quickly identify drug combinations, such as those that might treat COVID-19, researchers have come up with an artificial intelligence platform called IDentif.AI. Traditionally, when dangerous new bacterial and viral infections emerge, the response is to develop a treatment that combines several different drugs. However, this process is laborious and time-consuming, with drug combinations chosen sub-optimally, and selection of doses a matter of trial and error. This costly and inefficient way of developing a treatment presents problems when a rapid response becomes crucial to tackle a global pandemic and resources need to be conserved.