LONDON: Artificial intelligence could help discover a cure for cancer within our lifetime, according to Rene Haas, chief executive of UK-based chip designer Arm Holdings.
Haas said advances in computing and AI could eventually allow researchers to solve biological problems that are currently too complex for humans and existing computers to model.
Speaking to the BBC’s Big Boss Interview podcast, Haas said AI could eventually analyse how cancer affects cells and DNA at a level that could lead to breakthroughs in treatment.
“AI is going to… find a cure for cancer that today you and I, other humans [could] not in our lifetimes,” Haas said. “I believe in our lifetime, AI will help cure cancer.”
Haas explained that modelling a human cell or understanding how a DNA marker is affected by cancer remains an extremely complicated task.
He said that as AI models become more advanced and computers become increasingly powerful, researchers will be able to process much larger quantities of biological data.
The Arm chief said feeding more information into sophisticated AI models could eventually enable computers to solve problems that are currently beyond human capabilities.
However, cancer researchers stressed that the quality of medical data will be crucial to making AI useful in healthcare.
Professor Chris Bakal of the Institute of Cancer Research in London and chief executive of Sentinal4D said the key question was no longer whether AI would be used in cancer research, but what data researchers provide to these systems.
He said his laboratory is training AI using data generated from patient samples rather than information scraped from the internet.
Bakal argued that the future of medical AI would not necessarily belong to whoever builds the largest computer or data centre, but to researchers who have access to the most useful and accurate measurements.
He said AI-powered predictions could potentially reduce the amount of time required to develop new cancer treatments, creating tangible benefits for patients.
Haas also predicted that humanoid robots powered by AI could become widespread within the next five years.
He expects robots to increasingly perform tasks in manufacturing, cleaning, security, construction and maintenance.
According to Haas, AI will allow robots to see their surroundings, learn from experience and adapt to new tasks without requiring complete reprogramming.
A robot initially designed to make beds, for example, could potentially learn to arrange towels, clean bins or perform other tasks in a hotel.
He said Arm’s chip technology could play a major role in powering these self-learning machines.
Haas also pushed back against predictions of massive job losses caused by AI.
While acknowledging that the technology will change the way people work, he argued that estimates suggesting machines will completely replace huge numbers of workers are overstated.
He believes new employment opportunities created by AI could offset many of the jobs affected by automation.
His comments come amid growing debate over the impact of increasingly capable AI systems on employment across industries.
Arm has emerged as a major beneficiary of the global AI boom.
The company’s energy-efficient chip architecture is used in billions of smartphones, vehicles, smartwatches and other electronic devices around the world.
Haas said Arm technology is now used in around half of AI data centres globally, highlighting the company’s growing role in the AI infrastructure market.
Arm has also expanded into designing and selling its own chips. Facebook owner Meta asked Arm to develop an Arm AGI chip, with Haas saying demand for the product has been exceptionally strong.
He said the company had received more than $2 billion in demand since the chip was launched in March.
Despite strong demand, Haas warned that shortages of different types of chips could slow the expansion of AI infrastructure.
He said the availability of chips is becoming an important constraint as technology companies plan increasingly large data centres.
Massive multi-gigawatt data centres are being planned in countries including France and the United States, while companies are even exploring concepts for data centres in space.
Haas believes the demand for AI will remain strong despite concerns that the extraordinary rise in the value of AI companies could eventually experience a correction.
Despite Arm’s importance to the global semiconductor industry, Haas expressed scepticism about whether the UK could become a major manufacturing base for advanced chips.
Arm designs the core CPU technology used by chipmakers worldwide, but the actual manufacturing of many advanced processors takes place elsewhere.
The rapid expansion of AI is therefore creating opportunities for the UK technology sector while also highlighting challenges around semiconductor manufacturing capacity and supply chains.
