aceBig tech says AI can find a cure for cancer. So where is it?
Her name was June. June would be the last month she ever knew. I remember the way her bed made her so small, swallowed her up in the middle of the room, turned as it was to face the window. With her liver failing, her skin was a ghostly apricot. June – I called her Nan – had been stalked by the king of terrors, the emperor of all maladies: cancer. That son of a bitch. The cancer was in her pancreas. Odds of survival? “Not good” – putting it lightly. The maths, putting it darkly: it’s the 12th most common cancer…
In brief
June would be the last month she ever knew. I remember the way her bed made her so small, swallowed her up in the middle of the room, turned as it was to face the window.
The thoughts creep in as we are bombarded by artificial intelligence chief executives making bold proclamations such as “AI will cure cancer in five to 10 years” or “AI will cure cancer in our lifetimes”. Those claims stand in contrast to apocalyptic scenarios, including AI being responsible for human extinction before 2030.
Main points
- June would be the last month she ever knew.
- I remember the way her bed made her so small, swallowed her up in the middle of the room, turned as it was to face the window.
- With her liver failing, her skin was a ghostly apricot.
The problem
With her liver failing, her skin was a ghostly apricot. The thoughts creep in as we are bombarded by artificial intelligence chief executives making bold proclamations such as “AI will cure cancer in five to 10 years” or “AI will cure cancer in our lifetimes”.
The full story
With her liver failing, her skin was a ghostly apricot. June, I called her Nan, had been stalked by the king of terrors, the emperor of all maladies: cancer.
Sources
- JournalismThe Guardian2026-09-22
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The debate