Positive impact of AI during COVID-19

How AI is making positive difference during COVID-19

SAMAIRA GULERIA, CLASS X, CARMEL CONVENT SCHOOL, CHANDIGARH

The novel coronavirus is scary but innovations are making it easier to handle. Artificial intelligence (AI) in particular is having a positive impact.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

AI has different definitions. While some professionals might say something is not truly AI, others might say otherwise. A universal feature, though, is that AI applies intelligence to tasks that typically go beyond human capabilities. Common uses of AI are virtual assistants, such as “Alexa” from Amazon and Gmail’s ability to spot spam in emails by looking for patterns that signal an untrustworthy source. Both of these examples use machine learning.

Uses of AI during COVID-19

There is a growing body of research on the coronavirus, and the data pool is growing beyond what humans can handle. AI can handle big data with ease, which is one of the ways that it is helping handle the pandemic.

Healthcare chatbots

It’s understandable that healthcare systems have been overwhelmed lately. To help alleviate some of the burden from call centers, many organisations, including the WHO and CDC, are adding virtual healthcare assistants or “chatbots” to their websites.

These assistants can answer questions, provide informative updates, check for symptoms, and advise where to go for a screening or home-isolation. The AI language processing features can potentially reduce urgent care visits significantly, as well as reducing anxiety by providing factual, up-to-date information on the virus.

Smart drones and robots

Drones are becoming increasingly useful during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their uses include tracking people not wearing facemasks in public spaces, as well as deploying medical samples in a particular area. Intelligent robots are also having a positive impact, from sterilising isolation wings in hospitals to delivering food and other essentials to those who are in quarentine.

It’s no wonder manufacturers are creating and deploying a growing number of intelligent drones and robots during this time.

AI in the workforce

The positive impact expands beyond applications solely related to the coronavirus. There is no doubt that artificial intelligence will continue to have a dramatic effect on healthcare, for example. AI systems can help detect tumors in X-rays, for instance. lt can also spot genetic sequences related to diseases.

In other workplaces, the technology is sure to transform them in many ways. For example, AI can improve the hiring process by sifting through huge numbers of resumes and sorting them by the best talent for the job vacancy. AI can assess individuals by their skills and predict how well they would fit within the company culture.

Measuring in machine vision can also confirm the accuracy of parts and components, without needing to be manually done. Get reliable measurement, such as the roundness of metal parts or the center coordinates of circular components, for excellent accuracy at extremely high speeds.

Final words on AI

The capabilities of AI are sure to continue to improve and the applications will expand accordingly. From office environments to manufacturing facilities, there are many areas where artificial intelligence is already proving helpful. The sophisticated technology is helping in many ways with the COVID-19 pandemic. I am thankful for it!

OBSESSION: A MENTAL ILLNESS

Aab Arora, Class XII, Delhi Public School, Chandigarh 

As we all know it’s the need of the hour to talk about obsession. People often confuse obsession with passion, but they both differ from each other by a very thin line. Passion is something positive, it is something you WANT to do. Whereas obsession comes with a negative thought in the mind as it is something you HAVE to do. Obsession is the passion that has crossed the line.

Many people have different obsessions. Some obsessions are low-key, while others can turn out to be a mental illness. In this world of social media, people are tending to be alone and are at a higher risk of having a mental illness. Obsession is a serious issue as people all alone not having anyone to talk to are easily getting weird obsessions. For example: If a person has watched a movie or a play many times, there’s a chance of him being obsessed with it. He might try to imitate the main lead. What if it’s a negative play, that person may turn out to do something illegal and might even end up hurting himself or the people around. When people are obsessed with something, they always feel they’re right and won’t even consider other’s views on it.

People usually don’t get to know if they’re having a mental illness or not because what they feel is just a strong irresistible impulse, so strong that they might even end up doing something dreadful because they’re strongly influenced. Such behaviour affects a person’s personality and his relationship with others.

The basic ways to overcome this obsessive nature is to practice prananyama breathing, mindfulness and meditation. These things will help the person relax and won’t let any unnecessary thoughts come to the mind. And after all, the psychologists are there for help, people can hunt for them and get the help they’d been searching for.

It’s a beautiful world, try getting out of the nutshell and you’ll see people are wanting to talk, to be heard, to be loved, and once you realise these things… the mental illness cases will go down so rapidly, and maybe a time will come when they’re dead and buried.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.