By Arpit GautamYou might still remember the first signs of a coronavirus outbreak in China. Who would’ve thought that a regional outbreak would quickly turn out to be a global pandemic?
Almost every country on the planet reported a massive number of COVID-19 infections. People were running from pillar to post to avail healthcare facilities while many people lost their jobs.
Many prominent industries such as healthcare, tourism & travel, manufacturing, logistics & others reported heavy losses.
Therefore, it was of paramount importance to contain this virus as an unchecked infection rate could lead to irreparable damages.
This is where groundbreaking technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Machine Learning & others came to the fore. Many countries started leveraging the benefits of such amazing technologies along with the expertise of prominent AI ML Companies for a host of purposes.
But, before we dive into the know-how of these purposes, let’s quickly understand the prominent technologies that were used to combat the coronavirus pandemic:
- Artificial Intelligence – Simulating human intelligence to perform tasks.
- Data Science – Get insights & understand patterns from large chunks of data.
- Blockchain – Proliferates seamless transactions & robust security of data.
- Robots – To simplify repeated tasks & minimize human contact
8 Ways Modern Technologies Are Helping Combat COVID-19
As prominent countries like China, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Italy, India & others initiated their pandemic response, they heavily depended on the technology sector.
Most notably, these countries & others leveraged AI, Data Science, Machine Learning & other powerful technologies to track & fight the pandemic.
Leading organizations like Alibaba, Amazon & Facebook, startups & companies that offer Blockchain, AI & Data Science Consulting Services are pitching in to fight the pandemic.
These companies are integrating the inputs of academicians, hospital authorities, medical experts, government authorities & other entities into the latest technologies to design robust responses against the pandemic.
Let us learn about 8 innovative ways in which the latest technologies are being used to combat and ward off the pandemic.
Identifying, Tracking & Predicting Outbreaks using AI
The novel coronavirus mutates & spreads at a rapid rate via touch, air particles, or objects. That is why this virus gained the notorious reputation of spreading like wildfire among people.
In such cases, it is important to track the spread of the coronavirus so that it can be stopped from further infecting healthy people.
This is where Artificial Intelligence comes into the picture. AI can innovatively analyze news reports, social media posts, infection reports from each city & state along with government notifications to learn about the outbreak.
This data can then be leveraged to prepare multi-pronged COVID-19 responses to lower the infection rate & flatten the COVID-19 curve.
Interesting Fact: BlueDot is a Canadian startup that tracks infectious disease risks by using AI. This company warned about a potential coronavirus pandemic long before WHO & its Centers for Disease Control Preventions issued public notifications.
Diagnosing the Virus with Artificial Intelligence Solutions
Imagine scores of people thronging hospitals & designated COVID-19 response centers to get themselves diagnosed for the virus. Add potential COVID-19 infected people to these groups of people.
It is a recipe for disaster! As we discussed in the first point, this virus primarily spreads through touch & then via air particles or objects.
So what is the solution to this problem? – Quick & Reliable Diagnosis.
Front-line healthcare workers are the first ones who are exposed to potential COVID-19 patients & other people. They are managing huge workloads due to the increasing number of coronavirus infections.
With robust AI-powered diagnostic tools, these healthcare workers can seamlessly detect & monitor the disease.
Two recent applications of AI in Diagnostic Solutions:
- Infervision is an AI company that developed COVID-19 detection & monitoring solutions. It seamlessly enhances the CT diagnosis speed.
- Alibaba developed an AI-based system that has a COVID-19 detection accuracy of 96%.
Faster Processing of Healthcare Claims
While healthcare personnel like doctors & frontline workers are facing risks treating COVID-19-infected patients, other departments of the healthcare institution like administrative & business are having a nightmare!
Due to an increased number of the influx of patients coupled with reduced manpower, these institutions are unable to perform activities like processing healthcare claims, invoice generation & more.
But, this is where a Blockchain platform like Ant Financial can help healthcare centers to simplify claims.
It accelerates the claims processing & minimizes the interaction between hospital personnel & patients. This results in reduced infections & a safer work environment for hospital & healthcare workers.
Leveraging Drones to Deliver Medical Supplies
One of the most pressing needs in the healthcare sector is the delivery of medical supplies. This includes:
- Delivery of Medical Supplies to on-site Patients
- Delivery of Medicines to those in need
- Sending COVID-19 samples to nearby hospitals
- Sending Blood Samples to nearby Analysis Centers
Using human personnel to carry out these activities can lead to a further increase in COVID-19 infections. But if we use drones to complete these activities, it can result in safer practices.
Drones can also be leveraged for:
- Thermal imaging
- Public Place Patrolling
- Tracking Non-Compliance to Quarantine Procedures
Using Robots & UAVs to perform various tasks
You might’ve ordered food, clothes, or gadgets via eCommerce platforms. Usually, dedicated delivery personnel hand over the orders at your doorstep.
But, in a COVID-19 era, this activity can be harmful to you & the delivery person.
This is because anyone of you could be a potential COVID-19 patient resulting in further virus spread. But, this virus spread can be arrested to a large extent. How?
By using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles like drones, Businesses, eCommerce, mCommerce & Medical Stores can seamlessly deliver essential goods like food or medical supplies to those in need. This dramatically reduces face-to-face interaction between people i.e. customers & delivery personnel resulting in a flatter COVID-19-curve.
Innovative Use-Cases of Robots:
- Blue Ocean Robotics – UVD Robots kill bacteria & viruses by using the ultraviolet light.
- Hospitals – To provide food & other essentials to in-patients.
Using AI to develop drugs for COVID-19 treatment
Perhaps, one of the most exciting applications of Artificial Intelligence is its use for developing drugs to treat coronavirus infections.
Just think about it, AI technology is many times faster than conventional human intelligence & can easily analyze troves of data from companies that provide Data Science Consulting Services to gather insights into virus threat & behavior.
This data can then be used to develop groundbreaking drugs that can help in treating COVID-19-infected patients!
Amazing Applications of AI to develop drugs:
- DeepMind Division, Google – By employing the cutting-edge AI algorithms along with its modern computing power, Google learned about the proteins that are found in the virus. It published its innovative research so that medical experts can develop treatments for COVID-19 patients.
- Benevolent AI – Leverages AI to develop drugs against diseases that are tough to cure. This amazing company is offering its services & support to help develop drugs for COVID-19 treatment.
Using Chatbots to Share Useful Information
Chatbots are one of the most innovative AI-powered solutions. Usually, these effective tools are used by travel & tourism industries along with many popular websites to drive user engagement and provide real-time information based on user queries.
However, in the COVID-19 era, these chatbots have been quite useful for many!
For example, if you go to a healthcare portal to know about basic medicines & tips to keep yourself safe during the pandemic, the virtual assistant i.e. can give simple yet effective suggestions.
These AI-based chatbots also act as communication tools for the travel & tourism industry i.e. to provide information regarding travel procedures, restrictions, safe tourist places to go & many more!
Developing A COVID-19 Vaccine with The Help of Supercomputers
Standard computers along with AI-based solutions can help tackle many COVID-19 related challenges, but such computers do not have the processing power required to do complex calculations.
That is why health experts, medical researchers & health authorities are turning to supercomputers to fast-track the development of a vaccine for coronavirus.
The calculation & processing speed of such supercomputers is exponential when compared to standard computers.
Supercomputers can also run a different set of models based on input parameters like virus resistance, drug efficacy, side effects of a particular drug & more at blazing fast speeds.
All of this computing power is mostly provided by leading tech companies like Google, Facebook & others to help develop a robust COVID-19 vaccine to end the pandemic’s onslaught.
These are some amazing applications of modern technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Data Science & others to combat the pandemic.
ARSR is one of the prominent AI ML Companies in San Francisco that offers services like AI strategy & consulting, Customization, Development, Implementation, Integration & Support for enterprises & startups.
