Demis Hassabis

And one of the most important things is something he repeats throughout this book is that he believes that information is the fundamental unit of the universe.

And so he has what's described as a two-part epiphany, something that sticks with him throughout his entire career.

Number one, information was the fundamental unit of reality.

Number two, a machine that learned for itself how to induce nature's patterns was the most powerful imaginable tool with which to apprehend reality.

While artificial intelligence could push the frontiers of science, it could also do much else besides that.

It could discover medicines, extend the lifespan of humans, solve the obstacles to nuclear fusion, rendering energy clean and abundant.

As Demis once put it, what we are working on is potentially a meta-solution to any problem.

A machine that can navigate an infinity of data would be infinite in its reach.

Let's go back to this idea that his ability to think for himself, to forge his own path.

You see it when he was a kid.

You see it in college.

He's still like this to this day.

Towards the end of his time at Cambridge, he had confided to his friends that to pursue his dream of building AI, he planned to found a company.

It was a shocking idea.

Entrepreneurship was a foreign concept on the Cambridge campus.

Britain had no equivalent to Silicon Valley.

If you'd looked at the students and asked who's going to set up a company, the answer would have been nobody.

Demis was the exception.

He saw no reason not to start a company, so he did.

And he talks about this.