Chamath Palihapitiya, the billionaire investor and former Facebook executive, has shared his insights on the potential of artificial intelligence to revolutionize the healthcare industry.

What Happened: In a podcast interview with Joe Rogan that was posted on Wednesday, Palihapitiya, the founder of Social Capital, discussed the potential of AI.

“It’s not all roses, but some areas if you imagine them, I’ll give you a couple if you want, are just bananas, I think,” he stated.

He then gave the example of cancer surgeries as the most likely scenario, saying that AI could reduce surgery error rates from 30% to 0%. “What’s amazing is that is now working its way through the FDA.”

Palihapitiya noted that the current error rate in cancer surgeries, particularly in breast cancer, is approximately 30% across all U.S. hospitals.

This rate can even increase to 40% in regional hospitals. He attributed this not to the incompetence of doctors, but to the challenge of accurately identifying the boundaries of cancerous tissue.

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He suggested that AI could be the solution to this problem. “We have models, we have tissue samples of women of all ages, of all races,” he stated.

These could be used to train AI systems to accurately identify cancerous tissue, potentially reducing the error rate to zero.

The SPAC king predicted that within the next two years, AI assistants could be present in operating rooms, assisting surgeons in accurately removing cancerous tissue.

He said that this technology is not limited to breast cancer, but could be applied to lung, pancreatic, stomach, and colon cancer as well.

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Why It Matters: Palihapitiya isn’t the only person optimistic about AI’s integration into the healthcare industry. Several other players, including big tech companies, have made progress in the same direction.

For instance, earlier this year, Nvidia Corporation revealed major partnerships with Johnson & Johnson and GE Healthcare to incorporate generative AI into surgical procedures and improve medical imaging.

In June 2024, ChatGPT-parent OpenAI, in collaboration with the startup Color Health, launched a new initiative aimed at leveraging AI to improve cancer screening and treatment strategies.

Meanwhile, during this conversation with Rogan, Palihapitiya also touched on a range of topics, including immigration and the media portrayal of former President Donald Trump. His statement about Trump was also acknowledged by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.