Overview

• Speaking at SXSW London, Hassabis confirmed DeepMind is developing a “next-generation” email assistant reported to learn personal preferences to sort, prioritize and draft replies.
• The system is designed to handle bread-and-butter correspondence and make simple decisions without user intervention, aiming to reduce backlog and manual triage.
• Hassabis emphasized safeguarding users from attention-grabbing algorithms by filtering distractions and acting as a proactive digital secretary.
• He revealed he would pay thousands of dollars per month for the service, highlighting the personal toll of overflowing inboxes.
• Looking ahead, Hassabis predicted artificial general intelligence could arrive within five to ten years and urged US-China collaboration on AI safety to guide its development.