For months, politicians and scientists have urged people all over the world to put their lives on hold and change their behaviour to stop the spread of a deadly disease: stop going to school, wear a mask, stay two metres away from others.

Now, for people in England and Wales, one more action has been added to the coronavirus to-do list: download a new contact tracing app.

The NHSThe National Health Service, the publicly funded healthcare system in the UK. The NHS was founded in 1948. Covid-19 app, launched on Thursday four months behind schedule, instructs the user to self-isolate for 14 days if it detects someone nearby who has the virus, provides a risk score based on location and even includes a self-isolation countdown clock

As UK cases rise dramatically, officials are hoping that a sense of civic duty could prevent a second lockdown. As a new TV campaign urged over-16s to "Protect your loved ones. Get the App," the app shot to the top of the UK's download charts, beating Zoom and even TikTok.

The UK is far from the only country to look to smartphones to control the virus. Singapore led the way, launching the first coronavirus app, TraceTogether, in March. It was followed by Immuni in Italy, CovidSafe in Australia and the Corona-Warn-App in Germany.

It is not just contact tracing - the pandemic has sparked hundreds of new innovations worldwide. Only this month, researchers developed another new app -- the "Coughvid" app - that uses AI to listen to your cough and tell you whether you have coronavirus.

For years, computer experts have predicted that AI could revolutionise healthcare. Now that revolution is happening in months, not decades. Today, some doctors are wondering if AI will replace them altogether.

Their fears may not be unfounded: in 2017, a robot passed China's national medical exam, exceeding the minimum required by an astonishing 96 points.

As early as 2016, "People should stop training radiologists now," asserted Professor Geoffrey Hinton - a Google researcher known as "the godfather of deep learning". Furthermore, it was "completely obvious" he added, that within five years AI would be able to diagnose illnesses more accurately than humans.

In January this year, one report found that mobile health apps can perform 9 out of 12 routine tasks normally carried out by doctors, including taking medical history and even examining the patient.

This may be impressive, but the report's conclusion was clear: apps cannot replace GPsGeneral Practitioners, a British term for doctors who work in the community to treat patients with minor illnesses and refer seriously ill people to hospital specialists. . Being a doctor requires practical skills and crucially, empathy. A robot may be able to tell a patient they are ill, but it cannot yet perform the Heimlich manoeuvreA first aid procedure used to help people who are choking. It was discovered by American doctor Henry Heimlich, who, aged 96, used it on a fellow resident at his retirement home in 2016. or comfort them when they are crying.

Studies show that patients are not yet ready to trust AI. When 200 American students were offered a stress-level assessment, 40% signed up to see a doctor, but only 26% signed up to see a computer.

And at an AI conference in London last June, one doctor called for a new Hippocratic OathAn ancient Greek ethical code for doctors still used by many medics today. In his new oath, Dr Jordan Shlain focuses on patient data and making medical language more accessible. for the modern age, saying "medicine is not just algorithms, there is a lot of humanity and emotions that goes into an interaction".

Yes, say some. We are living in the robot age, and doctors are not immune. AI is taking over the roles of more and more medical professionals, such as the UK NHS nurses replaced by chatbots, and doing a better job than humans ever could. Now, with the coronavirus pandemic sparking new scientific research, AI programs may replace doctors even sooner than originally predicted.

No, say others. AI may be a useful tool, but we still need human doctors to help patients make medical decisions and care for their emotional well-being. Healthcare apps may be growing in popularity, but not they are not universally accessible: for example, 75% of Indian adults do not have a smartphone, AI is an exciting new field - but it should exist to help doctors, not replace them.