Considerations for development and use of AI in response to COVID-19

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is playing a key supporting role in the fight against COVID-19 and perhaps will contribute to solutions quicker than we would otherwise achieve in many fields and applications. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, there has been an upsurge in the exploration and use of AI, and other data analytic tools, in a multitude of areas. This paper addresses some of the many considerations for managing the development and deployment of AI applications, including planning; unpredictable, unexpected, or biased results; repurposing; the importance of data; and diversity in AI team membership. We provide implications for research and for practice, according to each of the considerations. Finally we conclude that we need to plan and carefully consider the issues associated with the development and use of AI as we look for quick solutions.

Keywords: AI; AI applications; Artificial intelligence; Bias; COVID-19; Coronavirus; Data; Machine learning; Repurposed AI; Strategy; Team diversity.