(Yicai Global) Dec. 13 -- Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding is putting its artificial intelligence tech to work in Macao, where it hopes to provide a new way of predicting and preventing endemic diseases.

Hangzhou-based Alibaba fed machine learning tools with historic data on outbreaks on influenza and other illnesses so they can predict when and where they might occur as endemics over the next two weeks, state-backed China News Service reported yesterday. It hopes this will help residents and health institutions make suitable preparations to prevent the spread of disease.

The project will offer more convenient medical services across Macao and satisfies local institutions' demand for cross-regional diagnosis and treatments, said the head of Macao's health bureau.

Alibaba began trying to transform China's metropolises into smart cities in 2016, starting with its hometown. The program, titled City Brain, is helping transport authorities to reduce congestion, ambulances to move patients faster, citizens to find and pay for parking spots, and even help local governments better monitor rural to urban migration.

It signed on to work with Macao in August 2017, when the pair agreed to produce data for transport and city management, talent training and other sectors. The firm's healthcare plan in Macao is not the first time a tech company has looked to use AI in disease monitoring. Both IBM and Google have conducted similar projects, according to a report from the McKinsey Global Institute.

Editor: James Boynton