The Deep Mind of Demis Hassabis

The Deep Mind of Demis Hassabis(medium.com)

60 points by sinwave 11 years ago | 13 comments

keithpeter 11 years ago |

This article is part 4 of a series by Steven Levy about Google research. I rather like Levy's writing so I wanted to find parts 1, 2, 3 as well.

The navigation to earlier parts of the series seems broken to me (Iceweasel/Debian Sid/noscript set to allow page) so I backed up to the front page and found the links...

Part 1

https://medium.com/backchannel/how-google-search-dealt-with-...

Part 2

https://medium.com/backchannel/googles-secret-study-to-find-...

Part 3

https://medium.com/backchannel/google-search-will-be-your-ne...

Part 4

https://medium.com/backchannel/the-deep-mind-of-demis-hassab...

rokhayakebe 11 years ago |

I do not have a GPS, most of my friends do. I notice something with everyone who has a GPS when I am with them: they cannot find their way back. They have to use the tool again.

Why am I saying this? I do not know whether these technologies are making people smarter or less smart. It certainly helps to have something that can help do the tasks you just would not be able to do on your own without much toiling, however I think a lot about the day when your AI enabled digital assistant makes every single decision for you.

CmonDev 11 years ago | |

It's a perception problem. GPS is an artificial organ that happens to reside outside of your brain at this stage of evolution. Most people have to use vision as well, they cannot just use their old trusty sense of smell to get around. So what it's biological?

sumitviii 11 years ago | | |

Saying that we are now controlling the evolution (in biological sense) is incorrect.

jackgolding 11 years ago | |

I find the complete opposite personally, in that GPS has given me a better appreciation for my surroundings and proximity. Maybe I just look at maps too much?

maaku 11 years ago | |

Once you trust the machine to get you back, you can retake those brain cycles previously used to track that information to do something more productive, e.g. think about what you're going to do at the destination, engage in social banter, or plan the rest of your day.

You don't realize it, but you're actually less productive than your friends with GPS.

colanderman 11 years ago | | |

Not only do you use a different part of your brain for navigation from most everything else, it grows to accommodate its use: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocampus#Role_in_spatial_mem...

I never use a GPS, and generally never have to spend time thinking about directions. They just come to me, and eventually I'm at my destination and wonder how I got there. Compare to futzing with the terrible UI of most GPSes and interrupting conversations to listen to them tell me how far until the next slight bend in the road.

sdrothrock 11 years ago |

The banner is really frustrating. It says "Part 4" and has four dots, but I can't click the dots to go back to Part 1 and there aren't any header links to Part 1... is there even a Part 1 to go to?

bhaumik 11 years ago | |

parts 1-3 linked at bottom of the post.

Part 1: https://medium.com/p/33bc09852dc9

CmonDev 11 years ago |

He is yet to produce something useful. Why celebrate him now? Google PR?

bsaul 11 years ago | |

That was also my feeling, and i have it pretty much every time i hear about "deep learning" : it's all PR and people trying to get as much funding as they can while the trend is hot. I have a suscipicion that it will all collapse like a bubble once again.

The only thing that really impressed me so far was that ibm computer playing jeopardy, but the fact that no other application became public after all this years make me wonder if once again all people built was a manually tuned specialized system.

Note : i'm not in the field so my feelings are just based on the communication around the subject and decades of claims about building an intelligent algorithm with no success.

kylebrown 11 years ago | | |

Deep Mind Atari demo - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfGD2qveGdQ