Try GOLD - Free
Hope or horror?
The Guardian Weekly
|November 03, 2023
The great AI debate dividing its pioneers
Demis Hassabis says he is not in the “pessimistic” camp about artificial intelligence. But that did not stop the CEO of Google DeepMind signing a statement in May warning that the threat of extinction from AI should be treated as a societal risk comparable to pandemics or nuclear weapons.
That uneasy gap between hope and horror, and the desire to bridge it, is a key reason why the UK prime minister Rishi Sunak convened this week’s global AI safety summit in Bletchley Park, a symbolic choice as the base of the visionary codebreakers – including computing pioneer Alan Turing – who deciphered German communications during the second world war.
“I am not in the pessimistic camp about AI obviously, otherwise I wouldn’t be working on it,” Hassabis told the Guardian at Google DeepMind’s base in King’s Cross, London.
“But I’m not in the ‘there’s nothing to see here and nothing to worry about’ [camp]. It’s a middle way. This can go well but we’ve got to be active about shaping that.”
Hassabis, a 47-year-old Briton, co-founded UK company DeepMind in 2010. It was bought by Google in 2014 and has realised stunning breakthroughs in AI under his leadership. The company is now known as Google DeepMind after merging with the search firm’s other AI operations, with Hassabis at the helm as CEO.
This story is from the November 03, 2023 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 10,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM The Guardian Weekly
The Guardian Weekly
Feeling in a pickle? How leftover brine can give your cooking a kick
I’m an avid consumer of pickles. When I’ve finished a jar, how can I use the brine in my cooking?
2 mins
July 04, 2025
The Guardian Weekly
Cool retreats Hill stations swamped by tourists fleeing heat
Until recently, the drive up the mountainous road to Landour was a highlight of a visit to the hilltop town, as drivers enjoyed glorious Himalayan views and breathed in the cool forest air. Today, the journey is something to be endured with up to 1,000 cars a day clogging the narrow, winding road - slowing to navigate hairpin bends. A journey that once took five to six hours from Delhi can now take up to 10 hours, especially at weekends in May and June.
3 mins
July 04, 2025
The Guardian Weekly
How the rise of Zohran Mamdani has divided Democrats
The Friday night before election day, Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old democratic socialist running for mayor of New York City, walked the length of Manhattan, from Inwood Hill Park at its northern tip to the Battery - about 20km. Along the way, he was greeted by a stream of New Yorkers enjoying the sticky summer night - men rose from their folding chairs to shake his hand, drivers honked in support and diners leapt up to snap a selfie with the would-be leader of their city.
5 mins
July 04, 2025
The Guardian Weekly
‘It’s a fight for life’ Tipping points, doomerism and catastrophic risks
Climate expert Genevieve Guenther on the importance of correcting the false narrative that climate threat is under control... and why it is appropriate to be scared
5 mins
July 04, 2025
The Guardian Weekly
Call to revive the spirit of Greenham Common
In August 1981, 36 people, mainly women, walked from Wales to RAF Greenham Common in Berkshire to protest against the storing of US cruise missiles in the UK.
2 mins
July 04, 2025
The Guardian Weekly
Who are the jihadists waging a ghost war in the Sahel?
The scene is wearily familiar. It is dusk at a ramshackle military outpost, surrounded by miles of scrubby desert or on the outskirts of a major town.
3 mins
July 04, 2025
The Guardian Weekly
Will Ghibli's magic fade as the studio turns 40?
The beloved Japanese animation house faces an uncertain future, with its figurehead, 84-year-old Hayao Miyazaki, claiming he has made his final film
3 mins
July 04, 2025
The Guardian Weekly
The ripple effect
After America's blunt intervention, Donald Trump says the war between Iran and Israel is over. But the perceived readiness of the US to employ force instead of negotiations could have knock-on consequences around the world
4 mins
July 04, 2025
The Guardian Weekly
Broken justice...
Critics argue that far from shielding the world from the worst crimes, international law has protected states by helping them justify their wrongs. Is the system dying or merely in hibernation?
16 mins
July 04, 2025
The Guardian Weekly
While the death toll mounts, Israel's allies must help build a future for Palestinians
“We cannot be asking civilians to go into a combat zone so that then they can be killed with the justification that they are in a combat zone.” It defies belief that the Unicef spokesperson, James Elder, should have needed to spell that out last week.
2 mins
July 04, 2025
Translate
Change font size