Artificial Intelligence and Robotics in Delivering Healthcare at the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic

Klara  Aziz; Parnian  Jabbari

doi:10.18502/igj.v7i3.17875

Klara Aziz Department of Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
Parnian Jabbari Department of Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/igj.v7i3.17875

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; COVID-19 ; SARS-CoV-2; Robotics

Abstract

It has been more than six decades since Artificial Intelligence (AI) was introduced to outperform humans inaccuracy and speed. Ever since, many algorithms have been developed that gained success in fulfilling theclaims of AI. Their high speed and accuracy have made them perfect candidates for substituting humansin many settings. Even though AI has changed the face of many industries, its application in some others isstill a subject of debate. Besides AI, which, over decades, has changed the face of industries for good, thereis another phenomenon that has changed it: the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Unlike AI, thispandemic has changed every aspect of human life. Due to its fast spread through human contact, stay-in-shelter orders have been placed to slow the person-to-person transmission. This is a source of concern forindustries as many of them may fade away due to the pandemic. However, there is one industry at risk ofburning out rather than fading away: the healthcare industry. Limited resources, on the one hand, andincreased demand, on the other hand, have made the healthcare industry one of the main victims of thepandemic. Emergency departments are flooded with patients, yet non-emergent medical services have beennearly shut down. Therefore, solutions are sought to help both lighten the burden on emergency depart-ments and facilitate providing non-emergent medical services. AI and automated systems can be the key tosuch solutions. They have proved their efficacy in many instances in the healthcare industry, from emergen-cy department triage to assisting surgeries. Thus far, their widespread use has been halted due to legal andethical debates. However, the COVID-19 pandemic can be a turning point in the integration of AI into thehealthcare system, just as improving AI integration with healthcare can be a turning point in this pandem-ic. Herein, we overview how AI can help deliver non-emergent medical services during the pandemic andpossibly thereafter.