Center on Smart and Connected Health Technologies, Mays Cancer Center, School of Nursing, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States.
Department of Humanities, Institute of Technology Carlow, Carlow, Ireland.
J Med Internet Res. 2021 May 25;23(5):e26109. doi: 10.2196/26109.
With advances in science and technology, biotechnology is becoming more accessible to people of all demographics. These advances inevitably hold the promise to improve personal and population well-being and welfare substantially. It is paradoxical that while greater access to biotechnology on a population level has many advantages, it may also increase the likelihood and frequency of biodisasters due to accidental or malicious use. Similar to "Disease X" (describing unknown naturally emerging pathogenic diseases with a pandemic potential), we term this unknown risk from biotechnologies "Biodisaster X." To date, no studies have examined the potential role of information technologies in preventing and mitigating Biodisaster X.
This study aimed to explore (1) what Biodisaster X might entail and (2) solutions that use artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging 6G technologies to help monitor and manage Biodisaster X threats.
A review of the literature on applying AI and 6G technologies for monitoring and managing biodisasters was conducted on PubMed, using articles published from database inception through to November 16, 2020.
Our findings show that Biodisaster X has the potential to upend lives and livelihoods and destroy economies, essentially posing a looming risk for civilizations worldwide. To shed light on Biodisaster X threats, we detailed effective AI and 6G-enabled strategies, ranging from natural language processing to deep learning-based image analysis to address issues ranging from early Biodisaster X detection (eg, identification of suspicious behaviors), remote design and development of pharmaceuticals (eg, treatment development), and public health interventions (eg, reactive shelter-at-home mandate enforcement), as well as disaster recovery (eg, sentiment analysis of social media posts to shed light on the public's feelings and readiness for recovery building).
Biodisaster X is a looming but avoidable catastrophe. Considering the potential human and economic consequences Biodisaster X could cause, actions that can effectively monitor and manage Biodisaster X threats must be taken promptly and proactively. Rather than solely depending on overstretched professional attention of health experts and government officials, it is perhaps more cost-effective and practical to deploy technology-based solutions to prevent and control Biodisaster X threats. This study discusses what Biodisaster X could entail and emphasizes the importance of monitoring and managing Biodisaster X threats by AI techniques and 6G technologies. Future studies could explore how the convergence of AI and 6G systems may further advance the preparedness for high-impact, less likely events beyond Biodisaster X.
随着科学技术的进步，生物技术越来越普及，各个年龄段的人都能接触到生物技术。这些进步无疑有望大幅提高个人和人口的福祉。但矛盾的是，尽管人口层面上更容易获得生物技术带来了诸多优势，但它也可能因意外或恶意使用而增加生物灾害的可能性和频率。类似于“疾病 X”（描述具有大流行潜力的未知自然出现的致病性疾病），我们将生物技术带来的这种未知风险称为“生物灾害 X”。迄今为止，尚无研究探讨信息技术在预防和减轻生物灾害 X 方面的潜在作用。
本研究旨在探讨（1）生物灾害 X 可能涉及的内容，以及（2）利用人工智能（AI）和新兴 6G 技术来帮助监测和管理生物灾害 X 威胁的解决方案。
在 PubMed 上对应用 AI 和 6G 技术监测和管理生物灾害的文献进行了综述，检索时间从数据库建立至 2020 年 11 月 16 日。
我们的研究结果表明，生物灾害 X 有可能颠覆生活和生计，摧毁经济，对全球文明构成潜在威胁。为了揭示生物灾害 X 的威胁，我们详细介绍了有效的 AI 和 6G 支持策略，从自然语言处理到基于深度学习的图像分析，涵盖了从早期生物灾害 X 检测（例如，可疑行为识别）、远程设计和开发药物（例如，治疗方法开发）到公共卫生干预（例如，反应性居家避难令的执行），以及灾难恢复（例如，分析社交媒体帖子以了解公众的感受和对重建的准备情况）等各个方面。
生物灾害 X 是一种迫在眉睫但可避免的灾难。考虑到生物灾害 X 可能造成的人员和经济后果，必须迅速、积极地采取行动来有效监测和管理生物灾害 X 的威胁。与其仅仅依靠卫生专家和政府官员过度紧张的专业注意力，部署基于技术的解决方案来预防和控制生物灾害 X 的威胁可能更具成本效益和实用性。本研究探讨了生物灾害 X 可能涉及的内容，并强调了通过 AI 技术和 6G 技术监测和管理生物灾害 X 威胁的重要性。未来的研究可以探索人工智能和 6G 系统的融合如何进一步为生物灾害 X 以外的高影响、低可能性事件做好准备。
