For all its sophistication, AI isn't fit to make life-or-death decisions for us | Kenan Malik

‘Following the science’ is a disingenuous policy because mathematical reckoning and human judgments are very different things

Artificial intelligence is searching for the drugs to combat Covid-19. It enabled the pandemic to be tracked and information about it to be synthesised. It is diagnosing patients, triaging them, and identifying those in need of intensive care before their condition deteriorates.

There is much hype about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to combat coronavirus. Some of it is justified. Its ability to sift through vast amounts of data and to recognise patterns has been of great value. Some of the hype is flannel. AI did not, as some claim, predict the pandemic before humans recognised it. Inflated claims, for instance for the accuracy of AI in diagnosing Covid-19, should be cause for suspicion, not celebration.

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