How This Dad Used AI to Fight His Child’s Brain Tumor

A child’s brain tumor comes back in as many as 30 to 50% of cases after surgery. That’s the gut punch Jim opens with in this episode, and it sets the tone fast.

He tells the story of Siqi Chen and his daughter Mira, who was diagnosed with craniopharyngioma, a rare brain tumor in kids that grows in one of the worst possible places, close to the optic nerves and pituitary gland. Jim walks through the brutal reality families face: scans every few months, hard treatment choices, and the constant fear of finding out the tumor is growing again.

What makes this episode hit is that it does not stop at the diagnosis. In one weekend, Siqi built MiraViewer, a free open-source MRI tool that helps families compare scans side by side or as overlays. It runs locally on a computer, not in the cloud, which means the data stays private. Jim makes the value of that crystal clear: this is not hospital software trying to do everything. It is a practical tool built for parents staring at brain scans at home and trying to understand what changed.

The big takeaway is simple and powerful. AI is not just for productivity hacks and startup demos. In Jim’s telling, it becomes something more human: a way to move faster in a crisis, build useful tools, support research, and make things a little fairer for the next family.

“For families tracking tumor growth, that can be the difference between guessing and seeing the change clearly.” And near the end, Jim lands the point: “This work is not just tech talk. It’s personal, and it matters.”

If you’re ready to keep exploring what’s next with AI — not just watching it happen but actually building with it — come hang out in CTRL + ALT + BUILD. It’s where entrepreneurs, creatives, and curious minds are experimenting with real workflows, sharing what’s working, and learning together in real time. You’ll get early access to my experiments, prompts, and behind-the-scenes breakdowns before they hit the feed. Join fellow builders here: https://jimcarter.me/ctrl-alt-build-ai-community/