Applications of artificial intelligence to combat COVID-19: a technology prospection based on patents

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent growth of scientific and technological research to fight it presents challenges for researchers who need to monitor the knowledge produced on this theme. Among these support technologies are Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its applications. This article presents a technology prospection to describe the technology landscape of AI applications in the fight against COVID-19. The study analyzed 350 patent families, which were organized into technology categories. The findings demonstrated a prevalence of patent filings from India, China, and the United States. Collaboration between countries and innovation organizations was not evident, unlike what was observed in academic collaborations in previous studies. There was a predominance of technologies in the areas of computing and medicine, that is, ICTs adapted for the treatment or processing of medical data with focus on identification, triage, diagnosis, and prediction of new outbreaks of the epidemic.

KEYWORDS
COVID-19; Artificial intelligence; Technology prospection