According to one stakeholder, COVID-19 could end up driving the AI in healthcare revolution faster than anyone previously imagined.

The rapid, global spread of COVID-19 has put AI front and center as healthcare stakeholders from across the industry seek to monitor and reduce the impact of the virus.

AI has become one of the first lines of defense in the COVID-19 pandemic, but only time will tell how effective a weapon it will ultimately be.

The collaborative will focus on helping social robots understand both individuals and group situations and take appropriate decisions such as identifying patients that have been waiting alone for a long time or who might be anxious.

If hackers can target AI systems during the coronavirus crisis, experts note, it could lead to delayed care for patients at a time when every moment counts.

Given the tool’s high rate of accuracy, hospitals should be able to use it to identify patients with previously undetected fractures and, ideally, help them avoid subsequent fractures.

Researchers said the study was limited by the relatively small dataset and the limited clinical severity of disease in the population studied, but moving forward a broader range of data will help improve the tool’s predictive power.

Pandemics such as the coronavirus point to the need for sustained research in robotics to address risks of future infectious diseases.

In a disease outbreak, early mapping data could help healthcare organizations and government agencies identify areas where there's a concentration of people with fevers.