Artificial Intelligence and Big Data in Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Management

This chapter examines the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and big data analytics in clinical microbiology and infectious disease medicine, covering applications in pathogen genomics, outbreak detection and forecasting, antimicrobial resistance prediction, and clinical decision support. It reviews recent advances in deep learning-based image analysis for microbial diagnostics, AI-driven mass spectrometry interpretation, and predictive modelling for patient outcomes in sepsis and other severe infections. The chapter also addresses the methodological challenges, ethical considerations, and barriers to clinical implementation that must be overcome for AI-based tools to achieve reliable and equitable deployment in infectious disease practice.