Can AI Help a Tech CEO Cure His Spouse’s Brain Cancer?

Chatbots are helping techies come up with daring treatment plans for themselves or loved ones facing dire medical diagnoses. But those plans can be risky and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to put into action.

When Alicia Kalogeropoulos was first diagnosed in 2018 with brain cancer, she underwent surgery, and three years later, she enrolled in a clinical trial for a pill that worked to keep her disease in check for years.

In February, Alicia and her husband Alex received grim news: Her tumor had returned. Her physicians at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York advised Alicia, 35, that her options were another surgery, likely followed by chemotherapy and radiation. Alex knew from his research that the doctors’ plan wasn’t a cure. So he asked AI chatbots to weigh in.

“I want you to come up with a treatment plan for Alicia,” he instructed ChatGPT. “I want to focus on treatments that do not destroy her immune system efficacy and function. I want you to utilize all available tools and all available pathways we could attack this tumor.”