An AI algorithm developed by researchers at MIT in the US has correctly identified people with Covid-19 only by the sound of their coughs.
MIT scientist Brian Subirana said, "The way you produce sound changes when you have Covid, even if you're asymptomatic."
So in theory, if the researchers get regulatory approval to develop their project further, it could prove to be a vital tool in places where daily frequent screening is required, such as schools and local transport.
In tests, it achieved a 98.5% success rate among people who had received an official positive coronavirus test result, and the algorithm does so based on the vast database of sounds of breath and cough that the MIT lab has collected. Artificial-intelligence expert Calum Chace described the algorithm as "a simple piece of AI".
Several organisations, including Cambridge University, Carnegie Mellon University and UK health start-up Novoic, have been working on similar projects.
We all wake up wondering when this pandemic would be over. While the pandemic is highly unlikely to to be eradicated from the face of the earth as we all wish, innovations in technology like these could be the key to living more openly and effectively in a world affected by covid.