From sporting events to festivals: Can AI help public health teams prepare for emergencies before they happen?

July 16, 2026

By Eva Schaessens

Large events bring together thousands of people from different cities, countries and regions. They can also create public health risks that are difficult to spot early.

Jude Kong, an Institute of Health Emergencies & Pandemics member at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, is exploring whether artificial intelligence can help public health officials identify potential threats sooner and prepare more effectively.

Working with Toronto Public Health, Kong and his team developed and tested a prototype platform designed to identify emerging public health risks ahead of large-scale events. The platform analyzes publicly available information, including news reports, social media discussions and online searches, to identify signals that may be relevant to public health preparedness.

The collaboration brought together researchers, trainees and public health practitioners from the University of Toronto and Toronto Public Health, including Sylvia Ota and Effie Gournis, to explore how AI could support earlier awareness of potential risks.

"We tend to be reactive rather than proactive," says Kong, director of the Artificial Intelligence and Mathematical Modelling Lab (AIMMLab). The goal of the project, he says, was to explore whether AI could help public health officials prepare before a situation escalates.

The team was particularly interested in AI's potential as an early warning tool. While traditional indicators such as rising case counts and hospital visits often appear after disease transmission has begun, AI can scan large volumes of open-source information and help identify unusual patterns sooner.

The researchers emphasize that AI is intended to support human decision-making, not replace it. "The decisions are not made by the AI," says Kong. "The AI supports the human in their decision making."

Featuring Kong, research fellow Zahra Movahedi Nia and project intern Mohammad Ahmed Basri, the video below explores how researchers and public health practitioners are investigating the potential of AI to support preparedness for future public health emergencies.