[glossary_exclude]COVID-19 has undoubtedly changed the way we live and work in a short amount of time. Artificial intelligence (AI) has helped society in many ways, and now AI is being put to use to help doctors find patients with COVID-19 sooner. AI technology in China is doing this in several ways. According to a report from The Star, researchers at Huazhong University of Science and technology in Wuhan claim an AI tool achieves a 90% accuracy rate on survivability by analyzing blood samples. The article further states that AI is being used to compare chest scan images to distinguish between COVID-19 and other strains of influenza. While this information is helpful, it is up to the physician to make the determination on how to react to the data, so AI is not solely deciding who receives treatment and who does not.

Google acquired a company called DeepMind in 2014 that is being used to find proteins associated with COVID-19. What would have usually taken months takes much less time due to deep learning and machine learning technology according to the article on www.thenextweb.com.

Further, some sites are collecting data that could be used by AI to help with future pandemics. Google has a COVID-19 page at google.com/covid19/ that provides data and insights on confirmed cases throughout the world. Is it possible that AI in the future will be ready to help us fight global pandemics sooner? As stated in an article on www.Bruegel.org, AI technology is not fully utilized or mature enough to truly help in an expanded way globally. Hopefully, AI tech will be in place to help us address the next global pandemic and hopefully end this one sooner than later.[/glossary_exclude]