July 10, 2024 – In a groundbreaking revelation at the prestigious “Future of Britain 2024” conference hosted by the Global Institute for Transformation, Demis Hassabis, the visionary CEO of Google DeepMind, painted a nuanced picture of the current state of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Hassabis, engaging in a candid dialogue with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, underscored a pivotal observation: When gauged as a generalized system, the IQ level of AI has yet to surpass that of a household cat.
Despite this modest assessment, Hassabis expressed optimism, citing the relentless pace of progress fueled by colossal investments in both capital and computational resources. Some prognosticators, he noted, envision a future where AI intelligence may eclipse human intelligence within the next five years.
However, Hassabis emphasized that DeepMind’s mission transcends mere AI; it is focused on the quest for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). He elaborated, “While AI today can mimic human-like capabilities in writing, painting, or composing music, its overall intellectual prowess falls short of even an ordinary feline, let alone matching human standards. Nevertheless, in specific domains like gaming, AI has already demonstrated superior prowess.”
Hassabis went on to underscore the transformative potential of AI, predicting a subtle yet profound shift in human life as it accelerates scientific research across disciplines such as energy, materials science, healthcare, climate studies, and mathematics.
Leveraging the platform, Hassabis also unveiled DeepMind’s ambitious “Project Astra,” a groundbreaking initiative that aims to elevate AI beyond the confines of conversational bots like ChatGPT or Google’s LaMDA. Project Astra envisions an AI that is deeply contextual, aware of users’ situations, environments, preferences, and histories, thereby fostering a more intuitive and personalized interaction experience.
