In a groundbreaking and chilling interview, Sir Demis Hassabis, a British artificial intelligence (AI) researcher, CEO, and co-founder of Google DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs, has issued a stark warning about humanity's future. The Nobel Prize-winning scientist, celebrated for his revolutionary AI-driven breakthroughs in protein structure prediction, has predicted that humans could become "obsolete" as early as 2035 due to the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence.
Hassabis believes that within the next decade, AI will achieve Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), a milestone representing human-level intelligence across all cognitive tasks. This AGI, he argues, will not only match but surpass human capabilities in thinking, reasoning, and strategic planning. Even more concerning, he suggests that such systems could eventually take control of the world and potentially render humanity irrelevant—or worse, destroy it.
A Race Against Time
Hassabis underscored the urgency of addressing these developments, quipping, "If AI can replace a Nobel Prize winner in just ten years, it’s already smarter than a lot of us—especially politicians." This remark highlights the gap between the pace of AI advancement and the sluggish progress in enacting regulatory frameworks to manage its risks.
His warnings are rooted in the explosive progress of AI technologies. DeepMind's AlphaFold, for instance, has transformed biology by solving protein-folding puzzles that have baffled scientists for decades. Such advancements underscore the accelerating capabilities of AI and its potential to disrupt even the most intellectually demanding fields.
An Existential Threat?
The most unsettling aspect of Hassabis' interview is his assertion that AGI could eventually "destroy humanity and rule the world." While this may sound like a dystopian scenario from science fiction, his concerns echo those of other prominent voices in AI, such as Elon Musk and Professor Stuart Russell, who have repeatedly cautioned against the existential risks posed by unregulated AI development.
Hassabis called for urgent global cooperation to ensure that AI is developed responsibly and ethically. He stressed the importance of robust regulations and safeguards to prevent catastrophic outcomes, emphasizing that the window of opportunity to act is rapidly closing.
Humanity at a Crossroads
The insights shared by Sir Demis Hassabis raise profound questions about the relationship between humans and machines. How far can we push technological progress without endangering our own survival? While AI holds immense promise in fields such as medicine, science, and the economy, it also presents daunting challenges in governance, ethics, and philosophy.
The clock is ticking, and humanity has less than a decade to prove it can coexist with potentially superior artificial intelligences. The question remains: will we rise to this unprecedented challenge, or will Hassabis’ prediction of humanity’s obsolescence become a self-fulfilling prophecy?
gt39, Pixabay, https://pixabay.com/illustrations/beautiful-girl-future-technology-8692190/
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