At the time of writing, the world population is suffering from more than 10,000 registered COVID-19 disease epidemic induced deaths since the outbreak of the Corona virus more than three months ago now officially known as SARS-CoV-2. Since, tremendous efforts have been made worldwide to counter-steer and control the epidemic by now labelled as pandemic. In this contribution, we provide an overview on the potential for computer audition (CA), i.e., the usage of speech and sound analysis by artificial intelligence to help in this scenario. We first survey which types of related or contextually significant phenomena can be automatically assessed from speech or sound. These include the automatic recognition and monitoring of breathing, dry and wet coughing or sneezing sounds, speech under cold, eating behaviour, sleepiness, or pain to name but a few. Then, we consider potential use-cases for exploitation. These include risk assessment and diagnosis based on symptom histograms and their development over time, as well as monitoring of spread, social distancing and its effects, treatment and recovery, and patient wellbeing. We quickly guide further through challenges that need to be faced for real-life usage. We come to the conclusion that CA appears ready for implementation of (pre-)diagnosis and monitoring tools, and more generally provides rich and significant, yet so far untapped potential in the fight against COVID-19 spread.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 和计算机试听：关于语音和声音分析在 SARS-CoV-2 冠状病毒危机中的作用的概述

在撰写本文时，自三个多月前正式称为 SARS-CoV-2 的冠状病毒爆发以来，世界人口正遭受超过 10,000 例已登记的 COVID-19 疾病流行导致的死亡之苦。从那时起，世界范围内已经做出了巨大的努力来对抗和控制现在被标记为大流行的流行病。在这篇文章中，我们概述了计算机试听 (CA) 的潜力，即人工智能使用语音和声音分析在这种情况下提供帮助。我们首先调查可以从语音或声音中自动评估哪些类型的相关或上下文重要的现象。其中包括自动识别和监测呼吸、干湿咳嗽或打喷嚏的声音、寒冷时的说话、饮食行为、困倦或疼痛等等。然后，我们考虑潜在的利用用例。其中包括基于症状直方图及其随时间发展的风险评估和诊断，以及对传播、社会疏远及其影响、治疗和康复以及患者健康状况的监测。我们会快速指导进一步解决实际使用中需要面临的挑战。我们得出的结论是，CA 似乎已准备好实施（预）诊断和监控工具，并且更普遍地提供了丰富而重要的、但迄今为止尚未开发的抗击 COVID-19 传播的潜力。和病人的福祉。我们会快速指导进一步解决实际使用中需要面临的挑战。我们得出的结论是，CA 似乎已准备好实施（预）诊断和监控工具，并且更普遍地提供了丰富而重要的、但迄今为止尚未开发的抗击 COVID-19 传播的潜力。和病人的福祉。我们会快速指导进一步解决实际使用中需要面临的挑战。我们得出的结论是，CA 似乎已准备好实施（预）诊断和监控工具，并且更普遍地提供了丰富而重要的、但迄今为止尚未开发的抗击 COVID-19 传播的潜力。