Desert Island Discs

Demis Hassabis

Radio 4 Series 1 Episode 1
First broadcast 21st May 2017, 11:15
Duration: 36:00
Kirsty Young's castaway is Dr Demis Hassabis. An artificial intelligence researcher and co-founder and CEO of DeepMind, he is also a neuroscientist, a computer games designer, an entrepreneur, and in his youth, a world-class chess player. After taking his A Levels two years early, before going to university he worked on one of the most successful computer games of the 1990s, Theme Park. He graduated from Cambridge with a double first, and returned to the computer games industry, founding his own company in his early twenties. His passion had long been artificial intelligence and he says everything he's done has been part of a long-term plan to "solve intelligence" and then use intelligence "to solve everything else". He gained a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience where he deliberately chose to study topics where AI had failed so far: memory and imagination. After stints at MIT and Harvard, he co-founded his company in 2010, which was then acquired by Google in January 2014. In March 2016 their computer programme, AlphaGo, beat a world champion Go player at the game having taught itself how to play through a combination of two techniques - deep learning and reinforcement learning.

Clips from this programme

Opening Title Music-Desert Island Discs, Demis Hassabis

Duration: 00:20

Introduction-Kirsty Young interviews Demis Hassabis: Artificial intelligence (AI) researcher, co-founder & CEO of DeepMind, a neuroscientist, a computer games designer, an entrepreneur, a world-class chess player. Cambridge double first, MIT, Harvard, co-founder AlphaGo, DeepMind company acquired by Google in January 2014. Building an artificial mind

Duration: 01:02
Topics:

Demis Hassabis: Artificial intelligence (AI) a meta solution to any problem, consciousness, humanity, combining deep learning (neural networks), object and speech recognition, reinforcement learning (decision making) together may give full intelligence

Duration: 03:15
Topics:

Desert Island Discs, Demis Hassabis- Music no 1: Vangelis, Tears in Rain (Blade Runner soundtrack)

Duration: 01:34

Demis Hassabis: Artificial intelligence (AI) scary? Breaking down the mechanism of intelligence (Roger Penrose, Quantum Consciousness). DeepMind, theories about dreams, replay of memories

Duration: 02:39
Topics:

Desert Island Discs, Demis Hassabis- Music no 2: Enya, Watermark

Duration: 01:01

Demis Hassabis: Upbringing, toyshop, introduced to chess aged four, (world's second-highest ranked player for his age (12)).

Duration: 03:29
Topics:

Desert Island Discs, Demis Hassabis- Music no 3: Tammy Wynette with The KLF, Justified and Ancient

Duration: 01:03

Demis Hassabis: With his chess winnings, bought a PC and taught himself to code on a Sinclair ZX Spectrum (age 8), then a Commodore Amiga, assembler, Computer games (Populous) at Bullfrog productions (Peter Molyneux), Theme Park lead programmer

Duration: 03:23
Topics:

Desert Island Discs, Demis Hassabis- Music no 4: The Prodigy, The Narcotic Suite: Skylined

Duration: 00:49

Demis Hassabis: Fun at Cambridge University, Computer games company, mind sports olympiad winner five times, poker, chess

Duration: 02:25
Topics:

Desert Island Discs, Demis Hassabis- Music no 5: Michael Nyman, The Garden is Becoming a Robe Room

Duration: 01:10

Demis Hassabis: Founded DeepMind in 2010 (with Shane Legg and Mustafa Suleyman), an expert gamer machine with instinct to work out how to play (Atari games), then GO. Concern from Stephen Hawking at AI capabilities, built-in benevolence Artificial intelligence (AI)

Duration: 03:28
Topics:

Desert Island Discs, Demis Hassabis- Music no 6: Queen, Who Wants to Live Forever

Duration: 00:58

Demis Hassabis: Google buys DeepMind, Artificial intelligence (AI) and jobs, 3D structure of proteins for drug design, AlphaGo

Duration: 02:41
Topics:

Desert Island Discs, Demis Hassabis- Music no 7: Daft Punk, Motherboard

Duration: 01:01

Demis Hassabis: Alzheimer's research & Artificial intelligence (AI), advice for very bright people

Duration: 02:22
Topics:

Desert Island Discs, Demis Hassabis- Music no 8: Hans Zimmer, First Step

Duration: 01:10

Demis Hassabis: Desert Island Discs book choice: The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien, luxury item: A solar-powered chess computer

Duration: 00:59
Topics:

End Title Music & Credits

Duration: 01:24

Desert Island Discs

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First broadcast: 31st January 2016
Duration 35:17

Kirsty Young interviews entrepreneur and philanthropist Bill Gates.

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- Demis Hassabis

Demis Hassabis

First broadcast: 21st May 2017
Duration 36:00

Kirsty Young's castaway is Dr Demis Hassabis. An artificial intelligence researcher and co-founder and CEO of DeepMind, he is also a neuroscientist, a computer games designer, an entrepreneur, and in his youth, a world-class chess player. After taking his A Levels two years early, before going to university he worked on one of the most successful computer games of the 1990s, Theme Park. He graduated from Cambridge with a double first, and returned to the computer games industry, founding his own company in his early twenties. His passion had long been artificial intelligence and he says everything he's done has been part of a long-term plan to "solve intelligence" and then use intelligence "to solve everything else". He gained a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience where he deliberately chose to study topics where AI had failed so far: memory and imagination. After stints at MIT and Harvard, he co-founded his company in 2010, which was then acquired by Google in January 2014. In March 2016 their computer programme, AlphaGo, beat a world champion Go player at the game having taught itself how to play through a combination of two techniques - deep learning and reinforcement learning.

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