The Prospects of Multi-modal Pre-trained Models in Epidemic Forecasting

Accurate epidemic forecasting is imperative in light of the increasing global threat posed by epidemic diseases. Presently, researchers predominantly approach this challenge as a time-series prediction task and have proposed a variety of effective methodologies. However, two critical issues deserve thorough consideration. Firstly, the transmission of infectious diseases is a profoundly intricate process influenced by a multitude of factors, encompassing complex dynamics and propagation mechanisms. In contrast to the multifaceted nature of real-world scenarios, prevailing modeling approaches often exhibit undue simplification, resulting in imprecision and a deficit of interpretability. Secondly, existing methodologies excessively rely on data and require substantial adaptation for new infectious disease scenarios. The endeavor to conduct rapid and precise simulations and predictions during the early stages of transmission is challenging due to limited data availability. Thus, we aim to explore the feasibility and effective strategies of leveraging multi-modal pre-trained technology for epidemic forecasting. This approach offers the potential to comprehensively grasp the transmission process from multi-view perspectives and acquire richer representations by integrating multi-modal data. Moreover, through pre-trained, this methodology captures overarching patterns and principles of infectious disease transmission, facilitating swift and accurate predictions via fine-tuning, particularly in scenarios of sparse early-stage transmission data. We discuss the prospects of multi-modal pre-trained models in epidemic forecasting and provide feasible strategies for constructing the model.