COVID-19 and beyond: leveraging artificial intelligence for enhanced outbreak control.

Area of Science:

• Epidemiology
• Artificial Intelligence
• Public Health

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread political, social, and technological disruption.
• Early pictorial representations of disease spread remain scientifically undocumented.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) emerged as a tool to address pandemic challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the emergence and global spread of COVID-19.
• To analyze the role of AI in containing disease transmission.
• To identify key areas where AI has impacted the pandemic and can aid future outbreaks.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search of COVID-19 and AI articles in PubMed and Scopus.
• Analysis of AI applications in addressing pandemic-related challenges.
• Review of AI's potential and limitations in disease containment.

Main Results:

• AI has been applied across various domains during the pandemic.
• Limitations in data quality and diversity hindered AI's full potential against COVID-19.
• AI has been crucial in pandemic preparedness and response.

Conclusions:

• AI's capabilities require further optimization for maximum utilization in pandemic scenarios.
• Addressing data limitations is key to unlocking AI's full potential in public health crises.
• AI offers significant promise for future outbreak preparedness and response.