Google DeepMind CEO says AI offers 'huge opportunity' for India's youth: 'You have all the tools'

Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind Technologies

• AI offers huge opportunities for India's youth, says DeepMind CEO
• Hassabis urges students to master AI tools for future success
• AI still faces challenges like long-term planning and consistency

Did our AI summary help?

Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said the rapidly expanding artificial intelligence industry presents a “huge opportunity” for India’s youth, adding that they have “all the tools in the world” at their disposal.

Hassabis was speaking on the third day of the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on February 18. The five-day event began on February 16.

“Have been incredibly impressed by the energy that is here in India. Recommend that students lean in to become incredibly proficient in AI tools,” Hassabis said, explaining India’s role in AI’s future.

Hassabis said he was impressed with the progress that has been achieved in the last decade and the AI summit comes at a “crucial time”.

However, the British AI researcher and entrepreneur noted that the tech is “not there yet” when it comes to artificial general intelligence as there are certain things it still can’t do.

“Not there yet in terms of AGI. There are still things that systems can't do. Things like continued learning still need to happen,” he said.

Hassabis noted that the tech still has “difficulty” in terms of long-term planning and one of the major issues is consistence.

“Systems can get international math Olympiad medals but still make mistakes in elementary mathematics, still jagged that way,” he noted.

The DeepMind co-founder pointed out that AI is going to be the “most transformative technology” in human history and it is crucial to have summits like this that brins the international community together. “Need international cooperation to mitigate risks”.

Hassabis said he took “inspiration from the brain” as a starting point in his journey to develop AI.

He also flagged concerns over AI’s potential misuse by “bad actors” and said guard rails are required to be put in place. “Entering the agentic era, need to ensure guard rails are in place. Need to worry about bio and cyber risk very soon. Important to convene this summit around the world.”