Hassabis Wins RSA's Albert Medal, Talks AGI

Google DeepMind chief Demis Hassabis accepted the Royal Society of Arts' Albert Medal, using the moment to argue that humanities disciplines must help guide society through the coming AGI era.

Demis Hassabis, the head of Google DeepMind, announced on social media that he has been awarded the Albert Medal by the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). The honor recognizes contributions that advance the wellbeing of society, and Hassabis used his acceptance to reflect on the balance between technological progress and human judgment. In his post, Hassabis said that while science and technology are opening up remarkable possibilities, it will fall to the arts and humanities to help determine what kind of future society actually wants as artificial general intelligence, or AGI, continues to develop. His comment frames AGI not just as an engineering milestone but as a cultural and philosophical challenge that extends well beyond the labs building the technology. Alongside the medal announcement, Hassabis noted he took part in a wide-ranging conversation with mathematician Hannah Fry, touching on several subjects tied to the moment. He shared the exchange in his post on X, where the discussion is available for those following the RSA event. The recognition adds to Hassabis's public profile as one of the most prominent voices in the AI field, and his remarks reinforce a recurring theme he has raised elsewhere: that navigating advanced AI responsibly will require input from disciplines far outside computer science, including the arts and humanities that help articulate societal values and priorities.