Can Artificial Intelligence Technologies Find Solutions Against COVID-19?

Illustration. (Photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The COVID-19 outbreak is still hot in the world, because this virus is growing very fast and it is difficult to find a cure or detect it early. However, scientists are aware that artificial intelligence or Artificial Intelligence (AI) could help find solutions in the future.

Although it is too late for AI to play a major role in the current epidemic, scientists believe there is a glimmer of hope to detect the next outbreak.

AI is considered good at combing data mounds to find connections that make it easier to determine what treatments might work for an outbreak of disease or what to do next.

The question is how AI can work if the information that emerges is scanty like the COVID-19 case that first emerged late last year in China, and has infected more than 75,000 people in just two months.

It is Exscientia Ltd, a British startup led by Andrew Hopkins that works to help train artificial intelligence for drug discovery. He estimates that new treatments could change from concept to clinical testing in just 18 to 24 months in the next decade. All this thanks to AI.

Exscientia is working on designing new compounds to treat obsessive-complementive disorders that are ready for laboratory testing after less than a year, in the initial research phase. According to the company, this is about five times faster than average.

Meanwhile, Cambridge-based startup Helax has a similar approach to using AI to find new uses for existing drugs. The two companies feed their AI with information gleaned from sources such as journals, biomedical databases and clinical trials, to help suggest a treatment for a new disease or outbreak.

Neil Thompson, chief science officer at Helax said the technique could be used to fight outbreaks like COVID-19 as long as we have enough data on those cases.

"We're pretty close. We don't need to change much about the AI algorithm we use. We looked at matching drug properties with disease features," Thompson said in an interview.

Artificial intelligence algorithms have begun to reveal a cure for the COVID-19 disease. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say they have used this method to identify new antibiotic compounds. The antidote is believed to be able to kill various troublesome bacteria, even those that are difficult to destroy.

All of these technologies are clinical trials, even drugs that are safe to use must be tested again before they are given to infected people. To be effective, developers of artificial intelligence-based drugs must plan carefully, that is, select viral genomes that might cause problems in the future.

Meanwhile, another Canadian-based startup BlueDot is an AI adherent who has also developed an intelligent system by filtering data about humans to determine the chances of disease occurring. The AI platform from BlueDot is one of the latest technological advances to use data analysis to map and prevent disease.

Interestingly, BlueDot predicted a SARS pandemic several years ago and it did happen. The SARS outbreak came with devastating effects and claimed the lives of nearly 1,000 people.

The outbreak warning about COVID-19 in December 2019 is another piece of evidence that proves the robust nature of AI technology. It didn't take long for it to become a reality when the outbreak was widespread on February 2, 2020.

For information, BlueDot uses one of the Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools to track disease with several companies that have successfully detected disease around the world.

For example, BlueDot analyzes human language around the world and uses that information to help them predict disease outbreaks. Machine learning is another technology used by BlueDot with algorithms that offer up-to-date information about the possible onset of a disease.

Although AI can help detection or prevention, you should also know what the signs are if people around you have COVID-19. The following are common signs of COVID-19 according to the World Health Organization (WHO):

1. Respiratory problems

2. Excessive coughing

3. High fever

4. Indicates breathing problems such as shortness of breath

If you see this, you should have precautions such as covering your nose and mouth while sneezing, cooking food properly such as meat that must be thoroughly cooked, don't eat it if it is still red, wash your hands before eating and after traveling. Lastly, avoid contact with those who are infected or show signs.