I School-Developed AI Model Helps CDC Slash Outbreak Detection Time

The CDC placed early bets on AI — and now they are paying off

By John Breeden II

When the White House unveiled the Genesis Mission, the sweeping governmentwide initiative to accelerate artificial intelligence using the combined power of national labs and high-performance computing, it was easy to see why the announcement grabbed headlines. Genesis promises to connect federal research data, supercomputers and scientific expertise into one massive discovery engine. The mission’s goal is nothing less than transforming how American science operates...

One of the most concrete examples of using AI as part of the Accelerator program involves computer vision, an advanced form of AI that can look at maps, photos and other visual media and make predictions based on what it sees. That is the basis for the CDC’s TowerScout program, which is designed to combat Legionnaires’ disease, which can hide in the aging water or cooling towers found in most cities.

According to the CDC, the traditional method of manually scanning images for disease-susceptible towers is slow and error-prone, especially across dense urban areas. TowerScout, by contrast, can spot cooling towers from aerial and satellite imagery in a fraction of the time. In fact, the AI tool reduces cooling-tower identification time from roughly four hours per area to just five minutes. This enables far faster source identification when outbreaks hit, and helps build registry databases for preventive maintenance and outreach.

The underlying AI model, developed originally at the UC Berkeley School of Information and now adopted by the CDC, identifies towers with high sensitivity and predictive accuracy, and has already supported dozens of outbreak investigations in multiple states.

The CDC has been steadily applying AI where it can make the biggest difference in day-to-day public health work. None of the tools are flashy, but they solve real problems, save staff time and give health officials faster and better information when it matters most. As federal agencies look to build on emerging national AI initiatives, the CDC’s early and practical efforts offer a roadmap for how AI can strengthen critical missions long before the spotlight arrives...

Read more...