The head of Arm Holdings, the Cambridge-based company that designs the processors found in billions of phones, cars and gadgets worldwide, believes artificial intelligence will achieve what human researchers alone cannot: a cure for cancer within our lifetimes. Rene Haas told the BBC that modeling how cancer affects DNA markers is currently too complicated even for today’s most advanced computers, but he expects that as AI systems become more sophisticated, they will eventually solve the puzzle.
Haas, who left the board of pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca earlier this year, also predicted that humanoid robots capable of learning new tasks—from cleaning to construction—will become widespread within five years. He argued that current AI growth is being slowed mainly by a shortage of the specialized chips needed to power data centers, though he doubts the UK will become a major chip manufacturing hub.
Not everyone agrees that raw computing power alone will drive medical breakthroughs. Professor Chris Bakal of London’s Institute of Cancer Research countered that the real advantage lies in the quality of data fed into AI systems, not the size of the computers running them. His lab trains AI using original patient data rather than material scraped from the internet, arguing this approach could meaningfully speed up treatment development.
Haas also dismissed fears that AI will cause mass unemployment or that AI-related stocks are overvalued, citing strong long-term demand—including over $2 billion in orders for Arm’s new AI chip since March.
Curious about the full conversation? Check out the original BBC report.
Source: AI will cure cancer in our lifetime, claims boss of UK chip giant (feeds.bbci.co.uk). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: U.S. Department of Energy from United States.