Do we need to build God to cure cancer?

Do we need to build God to cure cancer?

From The Argument by Jerusalem Demsas & Matthew Yglesias

June 4, 2026 · 58 min

About this episode

The episode explores the implications of AI in curing cancer through a live debate.

AI companies keep promising it will cure cancer. But what does that actually mean — and would an AI capable of doing it be one we'd want to live alongside? Jerusalem Demsas and Kelsey Piper debated the question live in San Francisco, in front of a crowd of researchers, investors, and skeptics who had plenty to say about it. One of them is going to be very wrong. Listen and judge for yourself. (0:00) Is the AI trade-off worth it? (3:54) Are small wins good enough? (10:27) What woul...

People in this episode

Host: Jerusalem Demsas

Guest: Kelsey Piper

Topics covered

  • AI
  • cancer
  • debate
  • ethics
  • technology
  • healthcare

Keywords

  • AI
  • cancer cure
  • debate
  • ethics
  • technology
  • healthcare
  • San Francisco

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: AI companies

Places: San Francisco

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