The AI funding frenzy has Demis Hassabis feeling a mixture of excitement and trepidation. As CEO of his groundbreaking AI research company, DeepMind, Hassabis is well aware of the transformative potential of artificial intelligence. But he also recognizes that it has entered a very real hype cycle.
In an interview with financial times“In some ways AI is underhyped, but in some ways it’s overhyped…We’re talking about all sorts of things that aren’t real,” Hassabis said.
The surge in investor money in generative AI startups reminds Hassabis of “other hype areas” like cryptocurrencies. “Some of that is spilling over into AI, and I think that’s a little disappointing,” he told the magazine. “And it clouds science and research. It’s amazing.”
The numbers confirm his dire concerns. According to the data, nearly $30 billion was invested in 691 generative AI trades by 2023. pitch book. Investors simply don’t want to miss out on the AI wave.
Hassabis’ warnings are not unfounded. In March, the SEC settled charges against an adviser who was accused of falsely claiming to have used AI. With billions of dollars at stake, some players will inevitably try to ride the hype cycle.
But the head of DeepMind remains incredibly bullish about the ultimate impact of AI. We are perhaps at the beginning of a new golden age of scientific discovery. ”
As proof of that, he points to DeepMind’s own AlphaFold project. Released in 2021, it has helped predict over 200 million protein structures and has accelerated biological research around the world. “This is the best proof of concept of how AI can accelerate scientific research,” Hassabis said.
DeepMind was founded in 2010 to achieve artificial general intelligence (AGI) that rivals human cognition. While some say AGI may still be decades away, Hassabis said the chance of it happening within 10 years is “about 50 percent,” adding, “That timeline has been around for a long time since DeepMind’s inception. It hasn’t changed,” he added.
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Date first uploaded: February 4, 2024 12:36 IST