Kai-Fu Lee the former head of Google China was given a diagnosis of stage IV follicular non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2013. (Known for AI research)
The cancer diagnosis put his career and life on the line Then, it put his career and life in a new light.
Lee said his cancer battle changed his entire outlook on the nature of man and machine.
He said it showed him that love is and will always be the most powerful thing on the planet.
The cancer also showed him, in an intensely personal way, how much AI can and will bring to health and medicine.
“It is inevitable that AI will play a major role in the current trend of the personalization of medicine,” Lee said.
An obsessive work ethic
To fully understand who Kai-Fu Lee is, you should know a bit about who he was.
To describe him as ambitious in the 35-plus years in which he climbed the tech ladder in both the United States and China would be a glaring understatement.
Lee's first priority now, he insists, is spending quality time with his family and friends. Whether on business or pleasure, he now travels with his wife. When his children visit, he takes two or three weeks off. He spends weekends with his best friends. And he took his company in China on a one-week vacation to Silicon Valley, their dream trip.
The change in Lee came the way it so often does in people when they’re forced to face the possibility of death. Lee's unrelenting hope and love of life I dare say became the human catalyst that let's him write his next chapter.
Since his lymphoma diagnosis, Lee has been a signpost of sorts for many other cancer patients in terms of how to proceed with work and life post-cancer diagnosis.
After he was successfully treated and told he was in remission, Lee took inventory of his life and made big, permanent changes. While still working away on his passions, his hope and love for both family and his AI research continues to inspire many. This is what being a human is all about and living with purpose.
If you have not heard of Kai-Fu Lee, his business AI portfolio of research is very comprehensive and his books are remarkable.
Have an amazing day and I hope the power of love and hope finds it's way to you!
Danielle Pointon
Live Blue Consulting
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