Demis Hassabis

In 2020, DeepMind solved a second grand challenge in biochemistry, stitching together 32 algorithms to define the shape of nearly all the proteins in nature.

This was the breakthrough for which Demis shared the Nobel Prize in chemistry.

So in 2024, Demis and John Jumper were awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for protein structure prediction.

Still in the introduction, the author gives an overview of some of the unique characteristics that Demis has.

He stands for a type, the missionary entrepreneur and the out-of-the-box scientist who, through brilliance and extraordinary drive, emerges as the right person for a particular moment.

But at a deeper level, Demas provides a window on life's external enigmas.

What drives people to act?

What is their purpose?

He has been thinking about thinking since he was a little kid, which we'll get into.

And so as the author Sebastian spends more and more time with him, he understands the power of stories on the effect of not only how Demas views the world, but also...

Demis is a phenomenal storyteller.

I experienced this firsthand.

Demis revealed himself as an extraordinary consumer and teller of stories.

His outlook is shaped by novels and movies, and his gifts as a leader are bound up with his genius for narrating his experiences.

When he is in full flow, ideas pour out of him in a torrent.

And this is an example, and I think this is one of the best excerpts in the book.

I am first and foremost a scientist, Demis began.

My goal is to understand nature, but doing science is sort of like reading the mind of God.

We humans have these faculties.

The world is understandable, but why should it be that way?