AI Goes Crypto: DeepMind Co-Founder Warns of ‘Hype’ and ‘Scam’

The AI ​​sector is exploding: investors have raced to pour money into the sector, to the tune of up to $200 billion by next year. according to Goldman Sachs. But one industry leader warns that the wave of “hype” and enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence threatens to undermine the scientific progress needed to advance the technology.

“[AI] brings with it a whole bunch of hype, and maybe some scams and other things that you see in other areas advertised: cryptocurrencies or whatever,” Deep mind co-founder and CEO Demis Hassabis he told the Financial Times. “Some of that has now spilled over into AI, which I think is a bit of a shame. It clouds science and research.”

DeepMind is Google’s artificial intelligence research division – it’s behind projects like the first one Chatbot Bard AND AlphaGothe pioneering AI model that defeated the world champion of the board game Go in 2016. Hassabis founded DeepMind in 2010 and, just four years later, Google acquired it for over $500 million. DeepMind, which Hassabis still manages, has continued to release new AI technologyincluding Google’s new Gemini AI model (who replaced Bard) and new research in areas such as healthcare.

Hassabis has been working in the field of artificial intelligence for more than 15 years and has had a front row seat to the explosion of popular interest sparked by the public release of ChatGPT in November 2022. The allure of this new technology has led to the creation of even more AI focused companies. Indeed, CB Insights reported in February that there were already 36 AI startups that have achieved unicorn status, and that 85% of the 800 identified AI startups are still in early stages. The sector is quite young and is supported by a massive influx of venture capital.

Is artificial intelligence like cryptocurrencies?

From a funding perspective, Hassabis’ comparison of AI and cryptocurrencies is reasonable, as both have seen exponential capital growth and substantial public exposure. Crypto startups attracted nearly $50 billion in investment between 2021 and 2022, but that figure fell below $10 billion last year as token prices fell and enthusiasm waned. according to PitchBook data. According to some cryptocurrency sectors, such as NFTs, sales volume has declined by more than 90% compared to 2021 peaks. market data compiled by Statista.

The AI ​​landscape is made up of a few big players sponsoring huge data centers and investing billions in research: OpenAI, DeepMind, and Microsoft, to name a few, and hundreds of smaller startups leveraging AI for both B2B and consumer-facing products. Hassabis has long worked at the cutting edge of AI research: DeepMind is largely staffed by PhDs like him, unlike many of the younger AI companies flooding the market right now.

“I think we should take a more scientific approach to building AGI because of its importance,” Hassabis said, referring to artificial general intelligence.Artificial intelligence capability that operates at or above human cognitive capabilities.

As in the world of cryptocurrencies, some AI players use the technology for outright scams, stealing thousands of dollars using AI voice cloning impersonate people’s relatives e use artificial intelligence to generate scam phishing messages. These types of bad actors have damaged the overall image of AI, creating reputational challenges that Hassabis and other industry leaders have had to grapple with.

Some analysts call AI a bubble openly, arguing that the massive increase in funding and ratings does not reflect the actual capabilities of AI. Their rhetoric echoes some of the major criticisms leveled at cryptocurrencies during their boom years in 2021 and 2022: that, in practice, blockchain and decentralized finance were not truly transformative technologies, and that the money flowing into cryptocurrencies and NFT was driven more by investor enthusiasm than investor enthusiasm. actual long-term value.

“Every bubble has a compelling story,” said Albert Edwards, chief global strategist at Société Générale. he wrote in a note last week. “The current narrative is centered on anticipating an AI-driven surge in corporate profits to fully justify current stratospheric valuations. Those of us who lived through the late 90s [tech] bubble we’ve heard it all before and we roll our eyes.

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