Post Covid-19: Will the World Be the Same? An Information Technology Perspective

Sujan Koirala 6 May, 2020

Nobody thought of an outbreak of a pandemic in 2019 when the world was celebrating advances in Artificial Intelligence. The world, prior to December 2019, was different and enjoyed how Information Technology seemed to take over everything. With the help of AI machines that crunched Big Data, exploited Internet harvested information, and intelligent robotics, IT sector enjoyed a demigod status: a solution provider to all the problems in any sector. Or, so it seemed.

Things changed beyond imagination after January 2020. A new invisible player came in and by the time it got a name, the Novel Coronavirus, had spread far and wide. It is still enjoying its realm, a realm that plays with human lives. It is succumbing people to death in America, in Europe, in Asia, inside houses, in hospitals, and almost everywhere where IT had made its prominence. IT, however, has been so fragile this time that for everything that it was meant to help people with, it has not entertained flawless stature. Therefore, the best tool for everything before has failed in helping with the basics: good food supply, education, a shelter, and basic health care.

Basic needs have become the only needs for people today. People care less for advances in computer technology in this woeful situation. Their high hopes on IT and reliance over computers as future assistance have faded. They all know that doctors are the only one who saves lives, and the only tutor their children can rely upon is a living human-being present in a formal classroom. IT has failed miserably.

The ways with which people exploited IT to everyday lives earlier, however, presented no exposure for the present crisis (or crisis similar to this). We were caught by surprise, and so was IT. Unexpected things happened, and also, the training model for AI predictions was blank. The future can have changed. And because the future can be changed, we should work for all the possibilities. It is time now that computers are leveraged for the welfare of human lives. They should be used to protect the basics of human lives. Advances should be done towards health systems.

Current developments in AI has proven to be effective in reading x-rays better than human radiologists. And computer-aided surgeries have been in existence for some time now. Big data analyses can help learn of possible outbreak centre and simple diagnosis can be completed using computers. We have achieved wonders before. But, for the future, we need to make sure that a computer is defined as its primary purpose: help humans with the basics. As for now, we can only help ourselves live a safe life, staying inside. Future is for the one who survives to live it. Stay safe.