Sir Demis Hassabis, the CEO of Google DeepMind, has made a bold prediction, claiming that artificial intelligence capable of general human cognitive abilities could be achieved within the next decade, potentially leading to a world where all diseases can be cured.

Speaking at The Times Tech Summit, Hassabis emphasized that achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI) requires “two or three significant innovations.”

He described AGI as “a universal system that can perform any cognitive task that humans are capable of.”

“This has always been the foundational goal of AI research and is a core objective for DeepMind,” Hassabis stated.

Co-founding DeepMind in 2010 with Shane Legg and Mustafa Suleyman, Hassabis led the company through its acquisition by Google for £400 million in 2014. DeepMind is known for its groundbreaking projects, particularly AlphaFold, which predicts protein behavior and has implications for antibiotic development, cancer treatments, and advances in materials science.

At 48, Hassabis voiced his perspective on the polarized views surrounding AI, contrasting “crazy hype” regarding existential risks with a more naive camp that believes AI is just another technological advancement.

He argued that downplaying AI’s significance is misguided, asserting, “This is far greater than the internet or mobile technologies; it is truly epoch-defining.”

Previously, Hassabis joined other AI leaders in cautioning against the technology’s potential hazards to humanity. Reflecting on his gaming background, where he observed an AI mastering chess within hours and outperforming expert human players as well as specialized computer systems, he expressed concern about the rapid advancement of AI capabilities.

“It’s remarkable. This is just a narrow task, yet I believe this adaptability can extend to broader systems, language, and world modeling. It poses immense power that must be managed cautiously. It’s important to counter the overly optimistic perspective that suggests there’s nothing urgent to address. A decade is not a lengthy timeframe given the magnitude of what we’re anticipating,” he remarked.

Despite these challenges, Hassabis concluded with an optimistic outlook, asserting that AI could provide significant benefits to society, including the potential to eradicate diseases, combat climate change, develop new energy solutions, and enhance productivity by automating routine administrative tasks. “These are remarkable developments, and they are on the horizon,” he added.