International artificial intelligence researchers are encouraging Barbados and other small states to incorporate more advanced technologies into their governance models as they can be used to help improve service delivery.
Healthcare and weather mapping have been identified as two key areas for AI-driven solutions. The researchers said that extreme weather events and health issues such as non-communicable diseases were major threats to the quality of life in the region.
Climate scientist Scott Hosking said AI could help meteorologists track systems faster and more accurately.
“AI can do a better job, outperform traditional state-of-the-art climate models. The improved weather forecast from AI has shown it can do far better at capturing the trajectories of hurricanes and storms days ahead,” Hosking said.
At the rate AI is advancing, he predicts that within a few months’ time, meteorologists would be able to predict systems weeks in advance as model builders were creating technology to handle multiple sources of data.
“We are really pushing for ten-day forecasts now and we are seeing signs that we will be able to forecast even longer. It will help in terms of being able to develop preparation strategies for evacuation and early warning systems for high impact events,” he said.
Asked how small islands could access such technology, Hosking said a number of programmes could be found online but appropriate staff would have to be hired to use and upkeep the programmes and infrastructure required.
Hosking was one of the climate experts at an AI exhibition held in the United Kingdom organised by the Alan Turing Institute.
Regarding health, Dr Cristobal Rodero, an expert in AI and digital twinning in cardiovascular disease, uses a 3D machine to replicate a human heart, which is then used to develop a treatment plan or better understand a heart condition.
“We use it to try to understand why some clinical trials fail and how that influences the design of new clinical trials, how different treatments can affect different people and why the same treatment would not exactly work on another person,” said Dr Rodero.
“So we can do more measurements in this way, do more tests for practical reasons. We can try different dosages or try different methods and see which one is the best for a particular patient. So with technology, it is not a one-size-fits-all approach. We can personalise treatment and care for specific people.”
