
The promise of AI with Demis Hassabis
03/15/22 • 30 min
Hannah wraps up the series by meeting DeepMind co-founder and CEO, Demis Hassabis. In an extended interview, Demis describes why he believes AGI is possible, how we can get there, and the problems he hopes it will solve. Along the way, he highlights the important role of consciousness and why he’s so optimistic that AI can help solve many of the world’s major challenges. As a final note, Demis shares the story of a personal meeting with Stephen Hawking to discuss the future of AI and discloses Hawking’s parting message.
For questions or feedback on the series, message us on Twitter @DeepMind or email [email protected].
Interviewee: Deepmind co-founder and CEO, Demis Hassabis
Credits
Presenter: Hannah Fry
Series Producer: Dan Hardoon
Production support: Jill Achineku
Sounds design: Emma Barnaby
Music composition: Eleni Shaw
Sound Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Editor: David Prest
Commissioned by DeepMind
Thank you to everyone who made this season possible!
Further reading:
DeepMind, The Podcast: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/welcome-to-the-deepmind-podcast
DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis on its breakthrough scientific discoveries, WIRED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WRow9FqUbw
Riemann hypothesis, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riemann_hypothesis
Using AI to accelerate scientific discovery by Demis Hassabis, Kendrew Lecture 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm-VkgVX-2o
Protein Folding & the Next Technological Revolution by Demis Hassabis, Bloomberg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhd4ENh5ON4
The Algorithm, MIT Technology Review: https://forms.technologyreview.com/newsletters/ai-the-algorithm/
Machine learning resources, The Royal Society: https://royalsociety.org/topics-policy/education-skills/teacher-resources-and-opportunities/resources-for-teachers/resources-machine-learning/
How to get empowered, not overpowered, by AI, TED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LRwvU6gEbA
Please leave us a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts if you enjoyed this episode. We always want to hear from our audience whether that's in the form of feedback, new idea or a guest recommendation!
Hannah wraps up the series by meeting DeepMind co-founder and CEO, Demis Hassabis. In an extended interview, Demis describes why he believes AGI is possible, how we can get there, and the problems he hopes it will solve. Along the way, he highlights the important role of consciousness and why he’s so optimistic that AI can help solve many of the world’s major challenges. As a final note, Demis shares the story of a personal meeting with Stephen Hawking to discuss the future of AI and discloses Hawking’s parting message.
For questions or feedback on the series, message us on Twitter @DeepMind or email [email protected].
Interviewee: Deepmind co-founder and CEO, Demis Hassabis
Credits
Presenter: Hannah Fry
Series Producer: Dan Hardoon
Production support: Jill Achineku
Sounds design: Emma Barnaby
Music composition: Eleni Shaw
Sound Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Editor: David Prest
Commissioned by DeepMind
Thank you to everyone who made this season possible!
Further reading:
DeepMind, The Podcast: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/welcome-to-the-deepmind-podcast
DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis on its breakthrough scientific discoveries, WIRED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WRow9FqUbw
Riemann hypothesis, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riemann_hypothesis
Using AI to accelerate scientific discovery by Demis Hassabis, Kendrew Lecture 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm-VkgVX-2o
Protein Folding & the Next Technological Revolution by Demis Hassabis, Bloomberg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhd4ENh5ON4
The Algorithm, MIT Technology Review: https://forms.technologyreview.com/newsletters/ai-the-algorithm/
Machine learning resources, The Royal Society: https://royalsociety.org/topics-policy/education-skills/teacher-resources-and-opportunities/resources-for-teachers/resources-machine-learning/
How to get empowered, not overpowered, by AI, TED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LRwvU6gEbA
Please leave us a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts if you enjoyed this episode. We always want to hear from our audience whether that's in the form of feedback, new idea or a guest recommendation!
Previous Episode

Fair for all
AI needs to benefit everyone, not just those who build it. But fulfilling this promise requires careful thought before new technologies are built and released into the world. In this episode, Hannah delves into some of the most pressing and difficult ethical and social questions surrounding AI today. She explores complex issues like racial and gender bias and the misuse of AI technologies, and hears why diversity and representation is vital for building technology that works for all.
For questions or feedback on the series, message us on Twitter @DeepMind or email [email protected].
Interviewees: DeepMind’s Sasha Brown, William Isaac, Shakir Mohamed, Kevin Mckee & Obum Ekeke
Credits
Presenter: Hannah Fry
Series Producer: Dan Hardoon
Production support: Jill Achineku
Sounds design: Emma Barnaby
Music composition: Eleni Shaw
Sound Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Editor: David Prest
Commissioned by DeepMind
Thank you to everyone who made this season possible!
Further reading:
What a machine learning tool that turns Obama white can (and can’t) tell us about AI bias, The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/21298762/face-depixelizer-ai-machine-learning-tool-pulse-stylegan-obama-bias
Tuskegee Syphilis Study, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Syphilis_Study
Ethics & Society, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/about/ethics-and-society
Row over AI that 'identifies gay faces', BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-41188560
The Trevor Project: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/
AI takes root, helping farmers identify diseased plants, Google: https://www.blog.google/technology/ai/ai-takes-root-helping-farmers-identity-diseased-plants/
How Can You Use Technology to Support a Culture of Inclusion and Diversity?, myHRfuture: https://www.myhrfuture.com/blog/2019/7/16/how-can-you-use-technology-to-support-a-culture-of-inclusion-and-diversity
Scholarships at DeepMind: https://www.deepmind.com/scholarships
AI, Ain’t I a Woman? Joy Buolamwini, YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxuyfWoVV98
How to be Human in the Age of the Machine, Hannah Fry: https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/book-prizes/science-book-prize/2018/hello-world/
Please leave us a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts if you enjoyed this episode. We always want to hear from our audience whether that's in the form of feedback, new idea or a guest recommendation!
Next Episode

Unreasonably Effective AI with Demis Hassabis
It has been a few years since Google DeepMind CEO and co-founder, Demis Hassabis, and Professor Hannah Fry caught up.
In that time, the world has caught on to artificial intelligence—in a big way. Listen as they discuss the recent explosion of interest in AI, what Demis means when he describes chatbots as ‘unreasonably effective’, and the unexpected emergence of capabilities like conceptual understanding and abstraction in recent generative models.
Demis and Hannah also explore the need for rigorous AI safety measures, the importance of responsible AI development, and what he hopes for as we move closer towards artificial general intelligence.
Want to watch the full episode? Subscribe to Google DeepMind's YouTube page and stay tuned for new episodes.
Further reading:
- Gemini
- Project Astra
- Google I/O 2024
- Scaling Language Models: Methods, Analysis & Insights from Training Gopher
- LaMDA: our breakthrough conversation technology
Social channels to follow for new content:
Thanks to everyone who made this possible, including but not limited to:
- Presenter: Professor Hannah Fry
- Series Producer: Dan Hardoon
- Series Editor: Rami Tzabar, TellTale Studios
- Commissioner and Producer: Emma Yousif
- Production support: Mo Dawoud
- Music composition: Eleni Shaw
- Camera Director and Video Editor: Tommy Bruce
- Audio Engineer: Darren Carikas
- Video Studio Production: Nicholas Duke
- Video Editor: Bilal Merhi
- Video Production Design: James Barton
- Visual Identity and Design: Eleanor Tomlinson
- Commissioned by Google DeepMind
Please leave us a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts if you enjoyed this episode. We always want to hear from our audience whether that's in the form of feedback, new idea or a guest recommendation!
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/google-deepmind-the-podcast-198154/the-promise-of-ai-with-demis-hassabis-19930568"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to the promise of ai with demis hassabis on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy