Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind and Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureate, believes AI will trigger a change “ten times bigger and ten times faster” than the Industrial Revolution.
The transformation AI will bring, Hassabis believes, is a “radical abundance”, unlocking enormous progress in areas like medicine, energy, material science, maths and space if developed and used wisely and its benefits are distributed evenly. He talked thoroughly about AI with The Guardian in an interview.
He also suggests we are only five to ten years away from artificial general intelligence – or possibly even less – which he believes will mark “the end of our pre-AGI period” and, in one fell swoop, “transform our civilization in a way that we cannot even imagine”.
DeepMind, Hassabis has noted in the past, is different to its competitors in its laser-like focus on basic research rather than the commercialisation of AI technologies as quickly as possible, setting itself apart from others with breakthroughs like AlphaGo and AlphaFold.
His recent comments reflect that same commitment to cautious, safety-first development.
Hassabis straddles that line between optimism and fear: he is concerned about possible negative effects, such as energy usage, job displacement and uneven benefits. And he is urging investment in philosophical, ethical and economic considerations to best guide and direct AI.
Humanity, he suggests, will be able to adapt in the current climate of disruption. He compares today’s rapidly changing landscape to past shifts, adding that disruption, while often uncomfortable, can drive improvement if approached the right way.
AI, in Hassabis’s view, will beget a new renaissance at a faster rate and a grander scale than the Industrial Revolution – ten times both, in fact – but only if harnessed with care.
