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The threat of a new pandemic and so-called “misinformation.” The future of democracy. The future impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in society. The “green agenda.”

These were just some of the topics on the agenda at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, which concluded today.

Some of the highlights of this year’s meeting included warnings of how a yet-unknown “Disease X” may cause the next pandemic, discussions on how AI could lead to the rapid development of new vaccines, and talk about how AI could either fall victim to — or filter out — so-called “misinformation” and “disinformation.”

‘We don’t want to wait a year before we get the vaccine’

Warnings were accompanied by more optimistic — from the perspective of the meeting’s participants — outlooks about the role AI could play in tackling future pandemics, such as through the rapid development of new vaccines.

Jeremy Hunt, the U.K.’s chancellor of the Exchequer, said during a Thursday panel discussion — in which Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla participated — that “when we have the next pandemic, we don’t want to have to wait a year before we get the vaccine.”

“If AI can shrink the time it takes to get that vaccine to a month, then that is a massive step forward for humanity,” Hunt said.

Digital ID ‘Very Necessary’ for Tracking the Unvaccinated

During another Thursday panel discussion, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands said that digital ID is “very necessary” for the provision of a range of public services — and suggested that it can be used to track the unvaccinated.

Digital ID “is very necessary for financial services, but not only. It is also good for school enrollment, it is also good for health — who actually got a vaccination or not,” she said.

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands at WEF in Davos: [Digital ID] is very necessary for financial services, but not only – it is also good for school enrollment; it is also good for health — who actually got a vaccination or not" #DigitalID #WEF24 https://t.co/DJiO8nISih pic.twitter.com/RgYA2ahXS0

— Tim Hinchliffe (@TimHinchliffe) January 18, 2024

Bourla elaborated on the possibilities he sees for AI in the realm of healthcare.

Answering a question from CNN journalist Fareed Zakaria, Bourla said,

“Our job is to make breakthroughs that change patients’ lives. With AI, I can do it faster and I can do it better.”

One example identified by Bourla was the role AI played in developing Paxlovid, a prescription oral medication marketed as a treatment for COVID-19.

“It was developed in four months,” Bourla said, whereas development of such a drug “usually takes four years.” He said AI helped significantly reduce the amount of time needed for the “drug discovery” process, where “You really synthesize millions of molecules and then you try to discover within them, which one works.”

He credited this breakthrough with saving “millions of lives.”

“I truly believe that we are about to enter a scientific renaissance in life sciences because of this coexistence of advancements in technology and biology,” Bourla said. “AI is a very powerful tool. In the hands of bad people [it] can do bad things for the world, but in the hands of good people [it] can do great things for the world.”

Pfizer CEO, Albert Bourla on AI biotech regulations, and it's use for the next pandemic: "in the hands of bad people it can do bad things But in the hands of good people, it can do great things for the world… the benefits clearly outweigh the risks."https://t.co/xfKZbVBy0b pic.twitter.com/RtuvkR0EHk

— Efrain Flores Monsanto