The AI Revolution In Childhood Cancer: A Force For Hope
Childhood cancer is a real-time issue. Kids’ lives are at stake. Here’s how AI can help.
Hey neuro / AI beginners, child cancer is something that calls for a sense of urgency. A sense of urgency that surpasses having a bad day, or, say, falling down and scraping your knee. Today, we witness the story of a young boy named Sebastian Nunney. His family described him as a “brave and beautiful boy.”
At the mere age of 6, Sebastian was diagnosed with neuroblastoma. And that was even after people donated thousands of dollars to save his life. He was just a normal kid before the terrible news hit his family and he got diagnosed with cancer. Sebastian died a few months later. I have one word for this. Unfair. AI should be preventing these young souls from dying. And it can!
Each day, 47 children are diagnosed with cancer in the United States, which means more than 17,000 children in the U.S. are diagnosed each year. Over 100 genetic mutations have been linked to childhood cancers, and AI is helping researchers identify new targets for treatment. Sebastian is one of these kids. These numbers highlight the urgency of the situation. AI can help with this! It can help save countless children from leaving this world every year! The use of AI in the automatic analysis of these microscopy images has been shown to result in a diagnostic accuracy of up to 95%, and in some studies to outperform expert hematologists. This shows AI’s prowess in fighting off cancer. AI-powered image analysis can detect tumors hidden in complex scans, allowing for earlier intervention and potentially life-saving treatments.The impact of AI on childhood cancer is profound. It gives us a cure. A cure not for just cancer, but for the mental health of parents all over the world. These suffering souls deserve a bigger shot on a wholesome life that has not been thrown away into the deep sea of depression centered around the ones they love the most.
Cancer leads to so many mental health disorders, and we have to stop it in its tracks now! In the “era of technology”, AI is at the reins of it all, producing change on a global (and familial) front. Sebastian’s family went through this, and they shouldn’t have to. If AI can help with cancer, there should be no reason why it can subsequently help with the mental health issues caused by cancer.
However, AI is not all good. It can lead to biases in information, a lack of empathy and trust, and even misdiagnoses. There is a clear lack of transparency. Also, the cost might be too much for some. It could lead to ethical dilemmas. We all want to help kids like Sebastian, so we should start by improving AI to do the job right.
Today, if you spot Sebastian’s family walking down the street, you might see them full of smiles. It means we can recover from this tragic, dystopian reality we call life. We can recover from tough years that have thrown us into a seemingly never-ending spiral of depression and regret. Again, AI can help with all of this. Just look at other areas: it has helped with mental health in the military, in prisons, and so much more. This means it has the power to change. To change humanity. I know it is heartbreaking to hear about this, but the fact that we have recovered from it means we as a community have the strength and resilience to recover from these issues for good.
I am writing this not to make you understand it better, because you probably do, but to take action. Please, go out there and donate to your local child cancer foundation such as St. Jude, to name one. It’s as simple as going to their website and clicking the “donate” button. Help kids like Sebastian be given a chance at living the life we all take for granted. AI can inspire us, but it’s our actions that bring real change. These kids have the potential to recover, to live full lives. If they can fight, so can we. Let’s stand together and give them the support they need.
Thank you for reading, I hope I have brought this to your attention.
Thank you,
Neuro4Kidz.
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