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Demis Hassabis is not just a scientist; he is a visionary who has left an indelible mark on the field of artificial intelligence (AI) since his childhood. Recently, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his groundbreaking prediction of protein structures—a complex problem that has perplexed scientists for decades.
Born in London to a Greek-Cypriot father and a Singaporean mother, Hassabis holds dual British and Cypriot citizenship. He has emerged as one of the leading intellectuals of his generation, having demonstrated extraordinary talent from a young age. At 13, he became a chess master, signaling a bright future ahead.
Yet, Hassabis’s journey extended beyond chess tournaments. His curiosity led him to the realm of computer science, where he quickly rose to prominence as a game developer, captivating millions with imaginative worlds.
From an early age, Hassabis engaged with technology and was among the pioneers in AI. For him, AI is not merely a tool for solving strategic games; it is a means to unlock the secrets of life, health, and the universe.
His journey began at the age of eight, when he created his first computer games. By 17, he developed one of the earliest video games featuring AI. At 20, he graduated from Cambridge University with a double degree in computer science. In 2010, he founded DeepMind, a company that was later acquired by Google, elevating him to the status of an AI “superhero.”
Describing him as a child prodigy feels like an understatement. Hassabis is more than that; he is a scientist with a relentless focus on the future.
At DeepMind, he and his team developed AlphaFold, an AI system capable of accurately predicting protein structures based on their amino acid sequences. This breakthrough has paved the way for new treatments for diseases such as cancer and has facilitated the creation of novel materials and biological molecules.
Hassabis combines philosophy and technology in a unique way. As he has stated, “Understanding how our brain works is the greatest mystery there is.”
Proteins function as microscopic robots, performing countless tasks within our cells. To understand how our bodies operate, scientists must decipher protein function. However, proteins are made up of amino acids that link in countless ways, creating an almost infinite number of possible structures.
To solve this puzzle, scientists required a new approach. Hassabis utilized his expertise in AI to create algorithms capable of predicting a protein's structure from its amino acid sequence. With AlphaFold, he revolutionized biology and health, turning what once took years into a process that can now be accomplished in hours, thus paving the way for new drugs and more effective therapies.
Hassabis is driven by a vision that AI can address humanity's greatest challenges—from climate change to cancer—helping to uncover solutions that we have yet to conceive.
Hassabis’s life resembles a movie script. From the parks of London, where a young boy played chess, to the laboratories of DeepMind, where a machine defeats a world champion, and from video games to the forefront of neuroscience and chemistry.
As the eldest of three siblings, he was captivated at the age of four when he witnessed his father playing chess with his uncle. Within two weeks, he was playing with adults and winning. By 13, he was the second-best chess player in the world for his age group.
With £200 earned from chess tournaments, he purchased his first computer, a ZX Spectrum, and by eight, he began programming his own video games.
He completed school two years early and entered Cambridge at 16. As a minor, he worked at Bullfrog Productions and was one of the creators of the game “Theme Park,” which sold 15 million copies in the 1990s.
After completing his Computer Science Tripos at Cambridge, he earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience at University College London (UCL). Shortly after his studies, he founded DeepMind, which was sold to Google in 2014. Since then, he has enjoyed unlimited resources to advance AI, becoming one of the field's leaders.
Even Elon Musk remarked that competing with Hassabis and Google would require billions of dollars.
It is challenging to categorize Hassabis as merely a chess player, programmer, scientist, or even poker player—he transcends these labels. He views the world as an expansive field of problems to be solved, with himself playing a pivotal role, much like a chess game where each move is a step toward discovery.
From a young age, Hassabis developed a passion for AI, with Geoffrey Hinton, dubbed the “godfather of AI” and a fellow Nobel laureate, expressing confidence that Hassabis would emerge as a significant winner in the AI race. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone more competitive,” said Hinton, a former Google executive who advised the company to acquire DeepMind a decade ago. “Demis is competitive at the level of people who win gold medals at the Olympics.”
