An article in Science magazine about the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in tracking the spread of new COVID-19 outbreaks features Prof. Rozita Dara, School of Computer Science.

Dara said that although automated AI systems are labour-intensive, once they are up and running, the technology can be an efficient tracking tool. For example, to train a program to scan Twitter, researchers must first feed it examples of relevant tweets, selected by weeding through Twitter for many hours, said the computer scientist.

But in a recent study, Dara and her colleagues discovered Twitter can be another tool in helping to detect the spread of infectious animal disease outbreaks, such as the new coronavirus, sometimes earlier than conventional tracking methods.

Dara specializes in online privacy management as well as security-enhancing solutions. She also studies data governance in the so-called “Internet of Things” and the ethical and social implications of AI and automated systems.