Contact-tracing of the COVID-19 spreading using digital technologies with artificial intelligence (literary review)

Abstract

The emergence of COVID-19 almost coincided with the beginning of an active phase of the digitalization process in all areas, including the healthcare system. Moreover, COVID-19 unwittingly became the impetus that accelerated the adoption of digital technologies, and initiated new, often innovative solutions to combat both the virus and its devastating social and economic consequences. The purpose of the study: the current study conducts a literature review of existing scientific reports in the field of digital contact-tracing COVID-19 using artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, to discuss issues related to the security of personal data when using official mobile applications, to draw conclusions and make recommendations in the field of effective and ethical management of digital contact-tracing as one of the main tools for preventing the spread of the pandemic. Scientific reports contained in the scientific research databases of Ebsco Publishing and SpringerLink for the period March 2020 — April 2021 were analyzed. Digital contact-tracing solutions have found their important place among other anti-epidemic measures in many countries around the world. However, the same solutions, but already using AI, are still gaining popularity. National governments in numerous developed and developing countries understand the importance of national contact-tracing systems, which in turn has introduced such approaches in national pandemic response strategies. Conclusion: Digital contact-tracing technologies using AI can be an effective tool in the fight against COVID-19 and similar pandemics. However, such digital systems are still at a preliminary stage of their development and implementation, and it will take time before the results will be visible. Very few of the considered examples and models of digital tracing solutions using AI technologies have operational maturity at this stage.