AI can now detect anthrax which could help the fight against bioterrorism
In an effort to combat bioterrorism, scientists in South Korea have trained artificial intelligence to speedily spot anthrax. The new technique is not 100 percent accurate yet, but it’s orders of magnitude faster than our current testing methods. And it could revolutionize how we screen mysterious white powders for the deadly bioweapon.
Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology combined a detailed imaging technique called holographic microscopy with artificial intelligence. The algorithm they created can analyze images of bacterial spores to identify whether they’re anthrax in less than a second. It’s accurate about 96 percent of the time, according to a paper published last week in the journal Science...