DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis: 'Learning how to learn' will be next generation's essential skill

ATHENS, Greece — Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google’s DeepMind and a 2024 Nobel laureate, said Friday that the most important skill for the next generation will be “learning how to learn” as artificial intelligence reshapes education, careers and daily life.

Speaking at an event held in an ancient Roman theater at the foot of the Acropolis, Hassabis told an audience that rapid and unpredictable technological change makes meta-skills — techniques for acquiring and adapting knowledge — more valuable than ever. "It’s very hard to predict the future, like 10 years from now, in normal cases. It’s even harder today, given how fast AI is changing, even week by week," he said. "The only thing you can say for certain is that huge change is coming."

Hassabis, a neuroscientist and former chess prodigy who co-founded DeepMind in 2010 and later oversaw its acquisition by Google, said people will need to continually update skills "throughout your career." He urged emphasis on learning strategies that let individuals quickly acquire new subjects and adapt to changing job requirements, alongside continued study in mathematics, science and the humanities.

The DeepMind co-founder suggested that artificial general intelligence — machines capable of performing a wide range of tasks at human levels — could arrive within a decade, a timeline he framed as a possibility rather than a certainty. He said such advances could yield dramatic benefits, including what he described as a possible future of "radical abundance," while also acknowledging risks tied to powerful technologies.

Hassabis shared the 2024 Nobel Prize in chemistry for work developing AI systems that accurately predict protein folding, a breakthrough that has implications for medicine and drug discovery. He used the platform in Athens to link that scientific progress to broader societal shifts driven by AI and to argue for educational changes that prepare people to take advantage of rapid innovation.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis joined Hassabis at the event after discussing ways to expand AI use in government services. Mitsotakis warned that unchecked concentration of wealth in a small number of large technology firms could fuel skepticism and social unrest if broader populations do not see personal benefits from the AI revolution. "Unless people actually see benefits, personal benefits, to this (AI) revolution, they will tend to become very skeptical," Mitsotakis said. "And if they see ... obscene wealth being created within very few companies, this is a recipe for significant social unrest."

Organizers said Hassabis rescheduled the presentation to avoid a timing conflict with a European basketball championship semifinal between Greece and Turkey. The Greek team later lost the game 94-68.

Hassabis’ remarks in Athens come amid broader debates about how education systems and employers should respond to rapidly evolving AI capabilities. Policymakers, educators and industry leaders are increasingly discussing lifelong learning initiatives, reskilling programs and credentialing systems that can more quickly reflect new competencies demanded by the labor market.

DeepMind, founded in London in 2010 and acquired by Google four years later, has become a focal point in discussions about both the transformative potential of AI and the governance challenges it poses. Hassabis reiterated the need for preparation and adaptation rather than precise prediction, urging societies to cultivate flexibility in learning and policy to manage change.

Kelvin Chan in London contributed to this report.