Artificial Intelligence for Early Detection and Diagnosis of COVID-19: Immense Potential of a Powerful Technology

Abstract

The novel coronavirus pandemic, shortly known as COVID-19, has become one of the deadliest and costliest events in recent human history. Since it started in December 2019, as of 4 January 2021, this virus infected 83,910,386 people around the globe and killed 1,839,660 lives, including 20,258,725 confirmed cases with 347,555 deaths only in the United States. Early detection and diagnosis of the virus can significantly save lives by controlling the spreading of the virus and monitoring the patients. In the process to fight COVID-19, artificial intelligence (AI) can be a very important tool for early detection and diagnosis to fight COVID-19 and save the global economy and lives. This article presents a unique and timely review on using AI for the early detection and diagnosis of COVID-19. Sourcing from open-access online materials and academic outlets, the article analyses sample articles concerning the use of AI in detecting and diagnosing COVID-19. The research team scrutinised the contents using established content analysis approach. Even though the pandemic started only about a year ago, AI is being used very effectively for the detection and diagnosis of COVID-19. Medical practitioners, researchers and scientists around the world are using AI for this purpose in different ways. AI is playing an important role to fight COVID-19 by early detecting and diagnosing it. It is anticipated that the findings would offer benefits in enhancing the use of AI to control the spreading and saving lives from the deadly virus.