- CEO of Google DeepMind Demis Hassabis thinks the impact of AI on healthcare might be greater than you can possibly imagine.
- According to Hassabis, artificial intelligence might one day cure all human diseases .
- Speaking to CBS’s 60 Minutes this week, Hassabis laid out a bold vision for what the next generation of AI could achieve
Artificial intelligence (AI) has intrigued the tech world for decades — and yet, we’ve only just begun to scratch the surface. From healthcare to finance, the emerging technology is likely to impact various sectors in future. And according to co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind Demis Hassabis, the impact of AI on healthcare might be greater than you can possibly imagine.
The idea that artificial intelligence might one day cure all human diseases has long sounded like something straight out of a science fiction film. But according to Hassabis, that future may not be as distant as we think.
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis on AI curing all diseases
Speaking to CBS’s 60 Minutes this week, Hassabis laid out a bold vision for what the next generation of AI could achieve — and its potential to completely transform the way we understand and treat illness. “It takes, on average, ten years and billions of dollars to develop a single drug,” he said. “But with AI, that timeline could shrink to months, or even weeks. That would be revolutionary.”
In the same interview, he added, “I think one day, maybe we can cure all disease with the help of AI. Maybe within the next decade. I don’t see why not.”
Hassabis isn’t talking in abstracts. His confidence comes on the back of recent breakthroughs in protein folding, an essential step in understanding the biological processes behind disease. DeepMind’s AI system, AlphaFold, has already mapped the structure of more than 200 million proteins — a task that, until recently, would have taken human researchers thousands of years.
Is a Disease-Free Future Possible?
While Hassabis stopped short of offering a specific timeline, his optimism is clear: the convergence of AI and biomedical science could lead, he believes, to the complete eradication of disease. “We may one day be able to cure all diseases with the help of AI,” he said. “It sounds unbelievable now, but so did protein folding breakthroughs five years ago.”
Of course, much work remains — both in developing the underlying AI tools and ensuring they’re deployed ethically, safely, and accessibly. But the foundation is being laid, and fast.
As the world watches the progress of DeepMind and its competitors, one thing is certain: the question is no longer whether AI will revolutionise medicine — but how far, and how quickly, it will go.
Support from a Surprising Corner
Hassabis’s comments have stirred up plenty of discussion, not least because of their ambition. But notably, they also received praise from an unexpected rival. Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity AI — a company working in a similar space — responded by calling Hassabis a “genius” and voicing admiration for his vision.
Such cross-company support is rare in the world of AI, but it reflects the magnitude of what’s at stake. If the technology can deliver even part of what Hassabis suggests, the implications for global healthcare are immense.
