Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar claimed in a CBS interview that some AI researchers have taken up smoking to demonstrate their confidence that AI will soon cure cancer. He described the behavior as a signaling mechanism among believers, saying they are showing their chips are all in on the technology.
Sankar linked the practice to effective altruism, which he called a doomsday cult and messianic complex. He argued that this philosophy distracts from real discussions about AI and that many researchers treat AGI as a kind of machine god.
A former cancer researcher who spoke to The Register was skeptical, noting that even with AI, developing and approving a new cancer drug takes years and resistance remains a concern. The article also points out that predictions of AI-designed pills reaching patients by 2025 have not come true.