Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis Wants to Build AI Email Assistant That Can Reply in Your Style: Report

Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis reportedly highlighted that the company is working on a “next-generation email” assistant. As per the report, Hassabis made the statement while speaking at the South by Southwest (SXSW) London festival, recently. He highlighted the need to change the existing email system and to replace it with an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that can respond to messages and make some of the easier decisions as well. Apart from this, the Google executive also spoke about artificial general intelligence (AGI).

Google DeepMind Might Be Working On an AI-Powered Email Solution

According to The Guardian, Hassabis made the comment while speaking about how despite its unprecedented growth and potential, AI was “overhyped in the short term.” Expanding on the idea, he reportedly mentioned that before the technology was allowed to work in critical fields such as healthcare or public administration, it should first work on solving another major pain-point for most professionals — the ever-growing email backlogs.

The Google DeepMind CEO reportedly hinted that the company was already working on an AI-powered technology that can reshape how people use email clients. Calling it the “next-generation email,” he reportedly said the tool would be able to understand the typical emails a user receives, and could reply to them in their style. Additionally, he said to have hinted that this email assistant would also be able to “make some of the easier decisions.”

Hassabis also touched upon the topic of AGI. Previously, at Google I/O, he said that AGI could be achieved just after 2030. Reiterating his prediction, he said it could arrive in five to 10 years, which is a very short time, as per The Guardian. He added that when the world reaches the technology, it would be similar to the impact caused by the Industrial Revolution.

Notably, AGI is defined as an AI system that can autonomously perform a wide range of end-to-end tasks, make decisions, and take actions at a level similar or beyond that of a human. Highlighting the timeline, he reportedly mentioned that there is a need for countries leading the AI race, such as China and the US, to work together to find common ground on the scientific and safety level as the technology has the potential to “affect the whole of humanity.”