XPost: misc.news.internet.discuss   
   From: here@is.invalid   
      
   AI can detect COVID-19 by listening to your coughs   
      
   This could lead to a pre-screening app you could use.   
      
   It's easy to be worried when you cough these days -- is it COVID-19,   
   or are you just clearing your throat? You might get a clearer answer   
   soon. MIT researchers have developed AI that can recognize forced   
   coughing from people who have COVID-19, even if they're otherwise   
   asymptomatic. The trick was to develop a slew of neural networks that   
   can distinguish subtle changes indicative of the novel coronavirus'   
   effects.   
      
   One neural network detects sounds associated with vocal strength.   
   Another listens for emotional states that reflect a neurological   
   decline, such as increased frustration or a "flat affect." A third   
   network, meanwhile, gauges changes in respiratory performance. Throw   
   in an algorithm that checks for muscular degradation (that is, weaker   
   coughs) and it provides a more complete picture of someone's health.   
      
   The AI is highly accurate in early tests. After the team trained its   
   model on tens of thousands of cough and dialog samples, the technology   
   recognized 98.5 percent of coughs from people with confirmed COVID-19   
   cases. It identified 100 percent of people who were ostensibly   
   asymptomatic, too.   
      
   There are clear limits. The technology isn't meant to diagnose   
   symptomatic people, as they might have other conditions that produce   
   similar behavior. And while it's quite capable, you wouldn't want to   
   use this for a definitive verdict on whether or not you're infected.   
      
      
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)