By Gagan Arora, EVP- Vertex Global Services
The implications of COVID – 19 has been consistently growing across the globe. As, the businesses and organizations have started operating remotely and struggling to adjust with the ‘new normal’. Their growth graph is still declining. Here, when business functions are at risk & profit is draining; Artificial Intelligence can help them escape implications of this outbreak.
From Sales, logistics, cash-flow forecasting to medical supply; AI has answers to several questions surrounding the virus and can enable businesses to cope up in the Coronavirus era.
There is disruption across supply chains, customer service needs are suffering, and unemployment is increasing. IT organizations across the World are struggling with new and different priorities in response to Coronavirus pandemic. Nevertheless, technology has always lured us and helped us with some great advancements during the times of crisis.
Coming up, from the experts table there is something vigorously threatening that COVID 19 cannot stop with the help of face masks. And here the advancements in ‘Artificial Intelligence’ & genetic technology will take the lead.
Sustaining Medical Facilities – Predicting Epidemics & Controlling Its Spread
If utilised properly, AI techniques can be used to understand and analyze the virus spread. Information can be analyzed from a multitude of resources with the help of machine learning, A.I. – powered algorithm & natural-language processing and further, the spread of several infectious diseases can be traced.
Automated contact tracing is another use case in this area. In this case, technology is implemented for creating comprehensive social interaction graphs by evaluating citizen data such as public facial recognition, mobile phone locations, people’s interactions, gatherings they attended and other information as part of behavioral analytics.
The one with symptoms can come online and the bot can assist instead of a live agent and only if the condition is serious – it can be passed on to the live agent which is the doctor in this case.
Apart from screening patients for recording vital information & checking symptoms AI-based chatbots & robot-advisory services can be extremely helpful for relieving the administrative burden on under-resourced healthcare personnel and busy staff.
Even for testing, bots can be deployed in rural areas or largest slum areas like Dharavi for mass testing – the biggest fear is that the medical forces are getting infected- so, if the bots can do testing and various other things – then it can help to prevent the spread.
Engineering Business for Pharmaceutical – Expedition in the Drug Discovery & Development
Somehow, the artificial intelligence platform of Blue Dot was able to pick up on a cluster of “unusual pneumonia” and we were warned about an impending epidemic that has come to be known as, COVID – 19. Unfortunately, we could not control its spread considering that it occurred in the initial phase in many of the countries such as the United states, UK & China. Nevertheless, AI has proved to be a magic during the time of crisis and it can help us develop new vaccines and treatments.
The key to vaccine development is that with rapid and efficient recreation of the virus’s genome sequence and building a virus copy, it will be easier to quickly validate diagnostic tests against viruses. In just one-month, Australian researchers were able to recreate a lab-grown copy of a virus from an infected patient.
For example, with proper use of the A.I. system – Insilico Medicine (one of the Longevity Vision Fund’s portfolio companies) was able to successfully identify molecules for potential medications.
Nurturing Food Supply Chains – Simplified and Accurate Sterilization of Food and Other Supplies
Robots are technically engineered to manage fatalities and keep a check on food supplies. The outbreak can be easily managed and fatalities can be easily minimized. With the help of Robots, Cleaning and sterilizing food and medicine to avoid and reduce the human-to-human contact and many other such associated tasks can be easily done. Robots aren’t susceptible to the virus. Such an example of this is Blue Ocean Robotics UVD robots who can easily kill bacteria and viruses.
Forecasting Cash-Flow for Life Sustenance
For the next few months, businesses might have to encounter drying up of revenue streams. It is likely that cash flow may get affected seriously. Here the AI solutions can help to analyze data for meeting the goal of cash-flow forecasting. For getting fulfilling results through AI solutions; it is fundamental that we have the right data period for creating models that are helpful for the current environment.
For successful cash-flow forecasting through AI solutions, it is necessary to go back to ‘recessionary environments’ and gather the information about what were their cash needs in the past. And here, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning will be able to help only if the data we feed or information we gather is representative.
Ever since, 1956, the term Artificial Intelligence has come into existence; it has flourished at a faster pace. Increased data volumes, improvements in computer power and advanced algorithms has tremendously contributed to AI, thus, driving businesses from varied spaces take the leverage of information with Machine Learning & AI to find different scenarios and achieve success in their respective fields during this outbreak.
We cannot predict the future, but as human beings – we should continue doing what we know best: evolving and utilizing what we have at the moment, and paving our way from dark through the power of human resilience and spirit.