This article was published on March 2, 2020

Alibaba’s new AI system can detect coronavirus in seconds with 96% accuracy


Alibaba’s new AI system can detect coronavirus in seconds with 96% accuracy Image by: H. Guberina et, al. / Research Gate

Chinese technology giant Alibaba recently developed an AI system for diagnosing the COVID-19 (coronavirus).

Alibaba’s like Amazon, Microsoft, a video game company, and a nation-wide healthcare network all rolled into one with every branch being fed solutions from the company’s world-class AI department.

Per a report from Nikkei’s Asian Review (h/t TechSpot), Alibaba claims its new system can detect coronavirus in CT scans of patients’ chests with 96% accuracy against viral pneumonia cases. And it only takes 20 seconds for the AI to make a determination – according to the report, humans generally take about 15 minutes to diagnose the illness as there can be upwards of 300 images to evaluate.

Read: AI sent first coronavirus alert, but underestimated the danger

The system was trained on images and data from 5,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and has already been tested in hospitals throughout China. According to the Review’s report, at least 100 healthcare facilities are currently employing Alibaba’s AI.

But it’s not the only one in town capable of detecting the coronavirus. Rival healthcare organization Ping An recently announced a very similar-sounding system. The company’s co-president and chief strategy officer of its Smart City division, Geoff Kau, released a statement saying:

Since its launch, the smart image-reading system has provided services to more than 1,500 medical institutions. More than 5,000 patients have received smart image-reading services for free. The system can generate smart analysis results in around 15 seconds, with an accuracy rate above 90%.

The more solutions the better. At least when it comes to helping overwhelmed doctors provide better diagnoses and, thus, better outcomes.

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