Google's DeepMind is using AI to help scientists understand coronavirus

Google's DeepMind is putting its artificial intelligence systems to a new task: trying to figure out certain properties of the novel coronavirus which has killed thousands in the past couple of months. 

In a post Thursday, DeepMind (which was acquired by Google in 2014 and is now a subsidiary of Alphabet), said it has put its AlphaFold system to create "structure predictions of several under-studied proteins associated with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19."

These predictions haven't been experimentally verified, DeepMind says, but they may help scientists understand how the coronavirus functions. This, in turn, may be of use when developing a vaccine or cure.  Read more...