The BaseEssayThe Guardian
Can AI really predict cancer survival better than a doctor? I have my doubts | Devi Sridhar
According to the excerpt, Devi Sridhar writes in a Guardian opinion piece that research from Mass General Brigham on an AI model trained on over 40 million face images (FAHR-Face), which estimates biological age and predicts cancer survival, is promising, but that many factors have been ignored.
Why it matters
The same thing, for different readers.
What it means for you
A selfie-based health prediction sounds appealing, but Devi Sridhar cautions that it may not reliably tell an individual patient what will happen.
For researchers
Devi Sridhar questions whether a model that finds patterns in face images can support individual-level predictions, pointing to factors the research ignores.
The record
- Questions
- How is AI changing childhood, health and daily life?
- People
- Devi Sridhar (Wrote it)
- What we read
- We have read only the description the publisher gives. No quotations until someone reads the source itself.
- Found by
- The Radar, run of October 24, 2026, via
the-guardian-ai(tier 2: a major outlet’s own reporting) - Cite this
- The Guardian, “Can AI really predict cancer survival better than a doctor? I have my doubts | Devi Sridhar”, October 23, 2026. Entry in the Ctrl AI Base, https://ctrlai.com/base/guardian-2026-10-23-sridhar-ai-cancer-survival-doubts
Our notesLight lane: excerpt only; the columnist's specific objections beyond the excerpt were not read.