Demis Hassabis on Chatbots to AGI | EP 71

Hard Fork
Hard Fork
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Published 2024-02-23
This week’s episode is a conversation with Demis Hassabis, the head of Google’s artificial intelligence division. We talk about Google’s latest A.I. models, Gemini and Gemma; the existential risks of artificial intelligence; his timelines for artificial general intelligence; and what he thinks the world will look like post-A.G.I.
This interview was recorded on Wednesday. Since then, Google has temporarily suspended Gemini’s ability to generate images of humans, following criticism of images the chatbot generated of people of color in Nazi-era uniforms.


Chapters

00:00:00 - Demis Highlights
00:00:32 - This week on Hard Fork
00:00:46 - Who is Demis Hassabis?
00:05:40 - Demis Interview
00:05:43 - Gemini/Gemma
00:13:37 - Open sourced VS closed Source
00:16:21 - How much personality should Chatbots have?
00:17:51 - Gemini hits pause on people pictures
00:19:26 - Benefits of being at Google
00:23:57 - Public’s negative opinion of A.I.
00:26:11 - How useful as a science tool?
00:28:29 - Curing diseases
00:29:24 - A.G.I.
00:34:04 - how should we prepare for AGI?
00:38:31 - whats your p(doom) ?
00:43:03 - will this just concentrate power more?
00:50:26 - most A.I.-proof job?
00:53:12 - Your personal post-A.G.I. plan?
00:54:55 - BONUS clip: chatGPT went KrAzy!


Hard Fork is a weekly look into the future that's already here. Hosts Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore stories from the bleeding edge of tech.
Casey’s publication, Platformer: www.platformer.news/


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All Comments (21)
  • @Ben_D.
    This guy is great. So glad people like him are at the helm.
  • @KaplaBen
    47:11 Demis's face when the host says "OpenAI has set itself as a nonprofit"
  • @pjramk
    Demis is a true intellectual, one of the smartest humans on the planet. Alpha Fold, which solved the protein folding problem, was no small feat. Winning the 2023 Lasker award for Basic Medical Research was a true honor!
  • @user-rd5nw7du5m
    I am not a scientist or an expert of any kind. But I am very optimistic about what Demis talked about, from personal experience. I have been living with Multiple Myeloma since 2017. When first diagnosed, the median survival time was two years. But the research and the application of ideas and science and medicine in the intervening years has been amazing. I am now 77 (almost 78) and the median survival time for newly diagnosed younger people (in their 30s) is now two to five years depending on the type of myeloma. I have benefitted from all the progress made in 8 years, such that I will possibly not die of multiple myeloma. In 2017, the word was that multiple myeloma was treatable but not curable. It’s a strange thought that death is the cure — at my expected end of life at my expected age and it wont be the horrible death that it was in 2017. I am in my second remission and I no longer see the protein spike in my bloodwork. I am still working as a writer. So thank all three of you and your colleagues, from me and all 150 of my fellow members of the North Texas Myeloma Support Group.
  • @getgal1
    Being a cautious optimist sounds like the right state of mind. Demis depicts a future of incredible possible improvements for life on our planet. Keep up your fantastic work.
  • @LoisSharbel
    Oh my gosh! This is the BEST! Demis Hasabis is the most brilliant, fine individual who is at the top of my trust list of developers of A I. Thank you for this terrific interview. I just discovered your podcast.
  • @ecofriend93
    Always love to hear Demis' thoughts! Thank you.
  • @kayrosis5523
    Been a massive fan of Demis since his work at Lionhead studios in 2001, 23 years ago, this man was clearly on the right path to developing world changing AI. He's always been a bit odd, but damn if he isn't gobsmackingly brilliant.
  • @destinypuzzanghera3087
    I like this guy this is the first time seeing this this channel but he makes sense I like that he’s very upfront. Thank you.
  • @johngaltego1
    What a great show! Such a smart person! It's cool to see him again after first seeing the Alpha Go Documentary so many years ago. "The concept of money will change" we need to talk about this more!
  • @JazevoAudiosurf
    man am I glad someone asks the right questions, good job to you guys. we need to know the technicals, how they achieved it etc.
  • @greedy9310
    A lot of people are going to find it hard to grasp that what Demis is talking about might just be around the corner for all we know Some predict this year, most experts predict in less than a decade. We are in for perhaps the most monumental upheaval in our lives, and I am all for it.
  • @gjjakobsen
    55:20 "GPT had a nervous breakdown and broke into Spanish". I noticed that too. In a reply I got there was a sentence written in Chinese. I cut and paste it into translator and it was actually on-topic. Crazy.
  • @CalicoArchives
    Huge fan of Demis Hassabis. Looking forward to what DeepMind comes up with and how things will change in the future.
  • @smaranda.p-p
    I appreciate your podcast so much. Thank you for another great episode!
  • @LeeWoods
    I love that you all post your podcast video to YouTube Music and allow for comments per episode, I seriously wish all the podcast shows I subscribe to would follow suit.