No. 94 of 108
September 15, 2025
“Demis Hassabis, Google scientist, 2024 Nobel Laureate, neuroscientist and former chess prodigy said artificial general intelligence -- a futuristic vision of machines that are as broadly smart as humans or at least can do many things as well as people can — could arrive within a decade… Hassabis emphasized the need for “meta-skills,” such as understanding how to learn and optimizing one’s approach to new subjects, alongside traditional disciplines like math, science and humanities. ‘One thing we’ll know for sure is you’re going to have to continually learn’, emphasized Hassabis ...”
Will we, can we -- the humans racing, the humans looking backward, the humans averting our gaze, the humans grieving and angry – continually learn, understand, be better? Tools – whether simple as a shovel, or complex as GPS or AI – are neutral. That which is intended to make more things possible can also make us lazy in the muscle department, the thinking department, the creativity department, the compassion department… +more. Hassabis is astutely right. Having created such powerfully complex tools, humans (… that be us) need to learn and evolve much further than the tools and machines we create. At least half a dim sum ahead in time and space. Will the tools be used in ways that support this? That’s on us. Will the tools be used in dependent ways that shrink/stunt/freeze our complex understanding muscles? That’s on us.