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The article so far just seems to be the usual AI wishful thinking from people who hope to profit from it and no disruption to speak of as yet.



Reminds me of AI generated music which usually sounds a lot like some kind of Frankenstein - sort of recognizable bits and bytes mashed together in barely acceptable composition.


I've been experimenting with using Google's midi generation to be as a starting point for phrases. It's not great but can be a useful starting point. Like radiology, it seems ai can be good enough to prepare work and then have it finished by a human expert. We don't need this stuff to be human, we just need it to complement our own skills and unlock productivity/creativity that we then refine with a human context/touch.


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I'm going to go out on a limb and say that your statement likely won't be well-received on news.ycombinator.com, though as a baseless claim it merits just as little attention anywhere else.


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What are you even referring to? Did you ever hear a claim that AI were supposed to protect us from biological viruses for some reason in the next couple of decades?


Well, we've heard about all kinds of useful implications of big companies and governments hoarding enormous amounts of data on us and ever more sophisticated methods of analysis of this data (AI).

The technologies and infrastructure in question:

- video/image analysis + nationwide networks of cameras created to "protect us"

- geospatial data and live tracking of GPS coordinates on everyone's phones + on cell towers.

- passport/immigration controls at borders

Would be great if countries could mobilize this infrastructure in times like this, but I don't think this is happening in the West. China/South Korea were more effective in this regard.

And it definitely shows the state of "AI" - it can do what it is trained to do. We still can't throw AI at some arbitrary problem with many moving parts and expect it to come up with best available ideas.


Google made a report using geospatial data and tracking of GPS and even anonymized it. https://www.google.com/covid19/mobility/

There is extensive research in using data and statistical modeling ("AI") to help with the coronavirus efforts and there has been a ton of work invested. [1] You have to note covid-19 has been affecting western countries since february and it's april now. Not that much you can manage in 2 months. We probably could have and should have done more when we saw the situation in november, but that is a different topic.

[1] https://arxiv.org/pdf/2003.11336.pdf


I've seen this. But it is not even close to our(Google/Government/Facebook/"AI") potential.

I was thinking more along the lines: once somewhere in hospital some patient is diagnosed with COVID-19 - I get a notification on my phone: "Hey you potentially contacted confirmed case on {date} for {#} minutes being within {#} meters" Please monitor your condition and try to self-isolate. Probability of you having the virus is x%"

AI here should optimise criteria for people to notify based on probability of getting the virus.

I'm sure there will be a lot of research in current situation and in years to come. But there should be some level of such intelligence available in the system by default. And our default in real world currently is very low, compared to the marketing materials of AI companies.

I'm sure we are doing the best we can BTW, just wish it would be more

UPDATE: I'm not from Google while previous version implied that.


Did I ever hear such claims? Every now and then HN is polluted by AI “solutions” to health issues ranging from curing cancer to killing viruses - suddenly that bubble appears to have violently popped.


You appear to be complaining that the AI community, if there is one such thing, is not behaving according to your stereotype.


I appear to have hit a nerve. Hard truths are hard to digest. I am pretty happy there is less AI hype these days.


You appear to have hit your own nerve


I think most tech has been a lot quieter, but that's because PR and Marketing has stopped rather than any change on the tech side of things. At the moment, getting anything that's not virus related in to the news is effectively impossible, so why waste time and energy trying. It's much more sensible to quietly carry on and announce things later when people aren't so distracted.


Technological disruption is said to be exponential. Maybe the pandemic, also exponential in nature, could help us visualize the impact AI will continue to have in the future.




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