Big-data analysis, AI-powered monitoring and warning systems, use of drones and other technologies, effectively helped South Korea, China and Singapore to contain the spreading of a pandemic.

South Korea’s fast response to the spreading of the coronavirus was mainly thanks to a centralized government-run big-data platform collecting citizen’s personal data and their movements. AI data analysis has been informing government from the outset about possible clusters of the virus, or areas with most risk, thus enabling prompt testing and medical services in those areas. The government also implemented AI-based process and logistics design to ensure supply and distribution of masks and other preventive items.

China even showcased the use drones into their response to coronavirus. Drones originally designed to spray pesticides for agricultural applications were quickly adapted to spray disinfecting chemicals in some public spaces. Drones were also tested for the delivery of medical supplies.

In both countries, use of body scans and other biometric measurements allowed authorities to check body temperature, while data localization technologies and social media provided authorities information on people’s movements in the areas affected by the virus enabling the authorities to intervene quickly.

In Singapore, through TraceTogether, an app that uses bluetooth to record distance between users and the duration of their encounters, the government could identify thousands of close contacts of confirmed cases, all of whom were quarantined. Using the app, individuals give consent to the health ministry to collect and use their information, which is encrypted and then deleted after 21 days.

AI is also being used by researchers to try to find a cure to coronavirus.

In the US, tech companies and academics have joined forces to make a huge body of research, a dataset which currently amounts to nearly 30,000 articles, accessible to AI researchers and their algorithms for the first time. The effort will ask AI to mine through research publications to answer questions that could help medical and public health experts. AI algorithms might help discover new possible treatments or factors that make the virus worse for some patients. The COVID-19 Open Research Dataset initiative was requested by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in March 2020.

In every continent, governments are revising priorities, and it is their responsibility to decide how to manage the several, interdependent effects, of this 21th century pandemic. Some countries are discussing the possible adoption of some of the approaches used in Asia, to try to control the spreading of the virus. That would be a short-term measure, to provide a quick response, bearing in mind that the use of AI presents challenges, including over privacy and other important rights.

The good news is for the first time in human history, artificial intelligence could however demonstrate its value when used for a good cause. Counter to this good news is that the use of AI in this way may save lives but it could cost all individuals their privacy. Our deep-dive research into the topic benchmarks the different approaches to using AI and the legal challenges that prevent some countries fully embracing its use.

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This short editorial on AI is an excerpt from Cullen International's new 'Global Trends' intelligence service.

The Global Trends service identifies key regulatory challenges in the tech sector across all continents. In areas such as AI, IoT and 5G, it compares how policy makers and regulators are setting the rules and implementing them.

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