“The two advantages that a computer has over a human being is firstly the ability to look at an enormous amount of data – far, far more than any human could ever compute. But also to be able to draw comparisons and make connections that a human, with our innate prejudices and limitations, wouldn’t necessarily be able to do or that wouldn’t necessarily occur to us.” In an extended interview, Environmental Scientist Simon Gear unpacks the interplay of intellect and technology as we forge our way across the battleground that is COVID-19.