AI and Cancer: OpenAI Plans to Cure Cancer

Technological advancement within the realm of artificial intelligence (AI) is commonly associated with task automation and content generation. However, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman has offered a new and invigorating perspective on the use of AI. In his latest blogpost, Altman suggested that with enough power, AI could potentially cure cancer, amongst many other potential benefits to improve the world, such as personalized tutoring.

OpenAI is a company dedicated to the research and development of AI models. It is best known for its generative AI model, ChatGPT. Altman predicted that with 10 gigawatts of computing power, AI could potentially solve many of the world’s problems. He wrote, “Maybe with 10 gigawatts of compute, AI can figure out how to cure cancer. Or with 10 gigawatts of compute, AI can figure out how to provide customized tutoring to every student on earth.”

Altman further explained that achieving these goals would require a significant expansion of AI infrastructure. He shared that OpenAI plans to “create a factory that can produce a gigawatt of new AI infrastructure every week”. He also noted that while this would take years to complete, he genuinely believes that it is an achievable feat. “If AI stays on the trajectory that we think it will, then amazing things will be possible,” he shared.

Cancer is a complex disease with many biological mechanisms that differ among individuals. Hence, curing cancer is by no means a simple task. While there are still many obstacles, there have been advancements in AI in the field of cancer treatment that prove it may be possible.

OpenAI cancer collaboration with Color Health

Companies have started to pilot OpenAI cancer applications to improve diagnostic accuracy and patient outcomes.

OpenAI has collaborated with Color Health to develop customized treatment plans for cancer treatment through AI. Color Health is a genetic testing company focused on the diagnostics and treatment of cancer. Using OpenAI’s AI models, they have developed a copilot application that generates personalized treatment plans which healthcare providers can review and use in their patient care.

Although it is still in the early stages of development, Color Health CEO Othman Laraki shared, “The goal is to offer primary care doctors and other clinicians an AI service that can determine what tests are needed to inform the patient's cancer treatment, without waiting for the patient to see an oncologist before pretreatment diagnostics are ordered and the prior authorization process is initiated.”

Google Alphafold

Google’s Alphafold is an AI protein database that is used to design new cancer drugs. Normally, the drug development process, from design to market, takes at least 10 years. With Alphafold, this could significantly reduce the time required to develop a cancer drug. Researchers at the University of Toronto successfully applied AlphaFold to an end-to-end AI-powered drug discovery platform called Pharma.AI and managed to develop a potential cancer drug in just 30 days.

While challenges remain, AI’s breakthroughs in cancer research and treatment demonstrate its potential to achieve what was once thought impossible — curing cancer.