It is not just our imaginations, the world is moving at a faster pace than ever, and that pace seems to be accelerating. Information travels the globe at the speed of light. With it moves ideas and ideologies. Following right behind, come people, change, unrest, and revolution. At the pace of our world, communities, governments, businesses, and the media are left unready and unable to respond.
The rise of technology that speeds the exchange of information, the ease of travel, and even the movement of currency has led us to this changing reality that moves at hyper speed. Technology can also help us prepare, respond, and protect our communities, countries, and economies.
How Can AI Help?
The problem is no longer that we don’t have enough information to predict and detect threats. It is now that we have too much. If someone could ingest the massive amount of publicly available data worldwide and process it in real-time, they could spot the coming of the biggest threats and events. Unfortunately, no human has the capacity to handle that type of data. However, now with the growing speed of computers and the increased efficiency of AI and Machine Learning code, machines can easily do this work.
Modern AI platforms can scan and monitor tens of thousands of data sources. They can process text, sound, images, video, and even IoT sensor data. Thanks to Machine Learning tools such as natural language detection, computer vision, and anomaly detection, AI can process all of this data and look for patterns.
One of the most significant advances that makes this possible is the ability for Deep Learning algorithms to work on combined multi-modal signals. This means that instead of different fields of AI handling different types of data independently, data inputs can be analyzed together and synthesized with other inputs to create more useful results.
It is difficult to overstate the power of the latest AI technology. With Deep Learning, algorithms can do more than analyze. They can be selective as to what they spend more “attention”on. This makes the process faster and more efficient. It enables these systems to get ahead of risks and events, alerting us to them faster than ever before.
What Fields Can Benefit from AI?
AI quickly found its way into use in the area of cybersecurity. While AI and Machine Learning cannot necessarily predict cyber attacks, they have been able to detect them faster and predict the next move in the attack, making it much easier to quickly shut it down. Researchers quickly learned that this same learning process could be expanded
outside the cybersecurity world and have a role in securing other aspects of government and business.
How Can AI Help with Emergency Response?
Natural disasters are some of the most unpredictable threats faced around the world. Some, like earthquakes, may come with little to no warning. Storms may give us more lead time, but even minor shifts in direction can radically change the required response. For a long time, what first responders have lacked was real-time data. Often the best indicators of what is happening on the ground comes not from official sources but from social media posts, live-streamed videos, and large numbers of national, local, and independent news sources. It is nearly impossible to pull out the most relevant information without the help of AI. What may look like a chaotic feed of disparate information to the human eye is data that can help responders know where to go and what is needed.
What is AI’s Role in Public Health?
Due to unprecedented global mobility, health is no longer ever a local issue. As we have again seen in the COVID-19 pandemic, a virus from the other side of the world can cause a worldwide outbreak in seemingly no time. Early on in the pandemic, experimental AI models began to see the outbreak long before the news became publicly available. Once outbreaks happen, AI can follow the status of their spread by analyzing social media, public health reports, and even airline ticketing data.
While the importance of AI is clearly seen in the case of a pandemic, it can also be used to alert officials of longer-term health issues such as spikes in cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. With more advanced notice, researchers and health officials can look for underlying causes and save lives.
AI’s Role in the Corporate World
For modern corporations, risk management is an essential business function. While successful organizations have learned how to recognize and mitigate known risks, there is a lot of guesswork in preparing for the unknown. Today, any major event in any part of the world can eventually become an issue for any organization. Whether it is a natural disaster or a global pandemic, the survival of corporations often depends on the right response. Whether it is shifting production, closing facilities, or temporarily adjusting an overall strategy, businesses need time to make these critical decisions. Some organizations are already enlisting the power of AI and Machine Learning to learn about possible events in advance while there is still time to plan and execute the necessary changes.
The Continued Role of Human Decision Making
With the incredible power of AI in detecting threats and risks, some are concerned about the ethical and safety issues in play. Keep in mind that these algorithms help to detect threats and risks. It is still up to humans to determine what is to be done. In fact, given access to a more significant share of the available information, human decision-makers have a better chance than ever of making the right decision that is in the best interest of public health or corporate profits.