The most transformative impact of AI is still ahead, says DeepMind's Demis Hassabis

New Delhi: As Artificial Intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in creative industries, questions around originality, authorship and artistic expression are moving to the forefront. At Cannes Lions, one session explored these issues through the lens of one of the world's leading AI researchers. Speaking at “The Future of Creativity”, a fireside chat at Cannes Lions, Demis Hassabis, Co-Founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, outlined his vision for how AI could support human creativity while accelerating scientific discovery and reshaping industries. He was joined by Francine Lacqua, Anchor and Editor-at-Large at Bloomberg Television, with Scott Belsky, founder of A24 Labs and Chief Strategy Officer at Adobe, later joining the discussion. Current state of AI Reflecting on the current state of AI, Hassabis said the pace of development has been "relentless" over the past decade, but added that key challenges continue to exist in artificial general intelligence (AGI). “I think there's still a couple of really big pieces missing from what I would call AGI,” he said. “One is long-term reasoning planning, and another is what you could call true creativity.” According to Hassabis, creativity involves more than refining existing ideas. “Not just iterating on a known idea or remixing existing things, but actually coming up with something novel or new,” he said. Expanding on what artificial general intelligence could ultimately look like, Hassabis said Google DeepMind has long defined AGI as “being a system that exhibits all the cognitive capabilities humans are capable of". Drawing on his neuroscience background, he noted that replicating human intelligence remains a formidable challenge, pointing to the extraordinary efficiency and complexity of the human brain - this includes brain functions such as emotions, creativity, and dreaming. Future with AI While discussions around AI often focus on disruption, Hassabis suggested that both the opportunities and challenges are still unfolding. “I think AI is perhaps a bit overhyped in the very near term,” he said. “But then over the medium long term, over the next 10, 15 years, it is still underappreciated how much transformation AI is going to create.” He added that the technology could lead to “almost a new human era”. As generative AI tools become increasingly capable of creating and editing content across text, images, audio and video, Hassabis argued that their value lies not just in generating outputs but in enabling a more intuitive creative process. Particularly as multimodal systems become increasingly capable of generating and editing text, images, audio and video, Hassabis argued that one of the key advantages of these tools is the ability to collaborate with them using natural language, making the creative process more intuitive and iterative. “If you didn't like some part of the image or you wanted to adjust it, you could just describe in natural language explaining what you want,” he said. Offering a creator's perspective, Belsky said the industry's response to AI remains mixed. While some artists are actively experimenting with the technology and exploring new creative possibilities, others continue to approach it with skepticism. Despite those concerns, Belsky suggested AI could eventually give rise to entirely new forms of entertainment and storytelling, enabling more personalised and interactive experiences for audiences. The discussion also touched on the future of work, with Belsky noting that technological shifts have historically created new categories of jobs and creative opportunities. He argued that the professions shaped by AI may be difficult to predict today, much like many digital-era careers would have seemed unimaginable a generation ago. Concluding with transparency As AI-generated content becomes increasingly sophisticated, Hassabis emphasised that transparency would be critical to maintaining trust in the technology. He noted that Google DeepMind developed watermarking systems alongside its models to help identify AI-generated content. “We developed watermarking technology,” he said, adding that generated content should ultimately be traceable through common industry standards. Despite ongoing debates around AI's impact on creativity, both speakers expressed confidence that creators would continue to adapt to new tools and technologies. Hassabis suggested that future generations would ultimately shape how AI is integrated into creative work, while ensuring that the distinctly human qualities underpinning creativity remain intact.