Can AI Detect Fake Sick Leave? Here's What You Need To Know

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New Delhi: Artificial intelligence (AI) is causing a stir in a variety of industries, and it is now prepared to address a persistent problem in the workplace: phoney sick days. A technique for determining whether someone has a cold has been devised by researchers at the Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology in Surat.

The study, which was first covered by The Economist, involves examining the vocal tics of 630 people, 111 of whom had colds. To identify the presence of a cold, the researchers concentrated on harmonics, the vocal patterns in human speech. AI algorithms can detect the unusual pattern in a person's harmonics when they have a cold. ()

In the experiment, participants were asked to count from 1 to 40, discuss their weekend plans, and recite "The North Wind and the Sun," an Aesop story. The AI was 70 percent accurate in identifying a cold from these recordings. ()

The main objective of the researchers was to make cold detection possible without a doctor's visit. But this technology may also be a game-changer for businesses trying to stop the practise of having workers make up an illness in order to get a day off.

This voice-based cold detection technology may only be the beginning of health-related advances as AI develops and finds new uses. Only time will tell how this technology may be incorporated into the workplace and how it may affect relationships between employees and employers.