Google DeepMind CEO: current AI models aren't even at the IQ level of a domestic cat

The world of AI is being forced upon us whether we like it or not, and as much bragging as these tech giants do, the CEO of Google DeepMind says that the IQ levels of current AI models are not as smart as a domestic cat.

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In a recent chat with Tony Blair, the ex-Prime Minister of Britain, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis compared artificial intelligence versus cat IQ during the Future of Britain Conference 2024, organized by the Institute for Global Change.

Hassabis talked about his work not being focused on AI but rather on AGI (AI = artificial intelligence, AGI = artificial general intelligence), and that is how he is looking at the computer versus cat comparison. Current AI models can write, paint, create music, and more in a human-like fashion, but a domestic house cat has more intelligence. Hassabis said: "At the moment, we're far from human-level intelligence across the board. But in certain areas like games playing (AI is) better than the best people in the world".

The Google DeepMind CEO talked about AI and its potential to change our lives, where he compared the rise of AI to be as big as the Industrial Revolution or discovering and using fire or electricity. Bold claims, but all companies working on or with AI are pushing the same narrative: AI is a world-changing thing.

Hassabis discussed that one of the ways AI will become a leading light will be the super-accelerating scientific discoveries in the fields of energy, material science, health care, climate, and mathematics, which AI is already doing some of these things. He also talked about the "big data" in the noughties, and that AI systems are the answer.

RIght now, Google DeepMind is working on a project dubbed "Project Astra which removes the restrictions of AI from being just an AI chatbot ala OpenAI and its ChatGPT, or even Google's own Gemini, promising more awareness of a user's situation, environment, preferences, history, and more. Project Astra is being heralded as a "universal AI agent" that will help you in you everyday life.