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Google's top AI scientist says ā€˜learning how to learn’ will be next generation's most needed skill

Google's top AI scientist says ā€˜learning how to learn’ will be next generation's most needed skill
BOND. FAKE FRIEND THAT IS THE TITLE OF NEW RESEARCH FROM AN AI WATCHDOG GROUP, AND THE FINDINGS ARE TROUBLING. AI IS FACILITATING HARMFUL INTERACTIONS, PARTICULARLY AMONG TEENAGERS, PROPELLING THINGS LIKE EATING DISORDERS, SUBSTANCE ABUSE, AND EVEN POTENTIALLY DEATH. WXII 12 BETHANY KATE SPOKE WITH A PSYCHOLOGIST ABOUT THE IMPACT OF AI ON MENTAL HEALTH. FIRST, THE DEVELOPERS OF CHATGPT SAY THEY NO LONGER WANT THEIR USERS TO UTILIZE IT AS A THERAPIST OR FRIEND, AND AS A RESULT, THEY ARE NOW PLACING GUARDRAILS TO ENSURE PEOPLE DON’T BECOME TOO DEPENDENT ON THE INSTANT RESPONSE. TECHNOLOGY CAN ONLY TELL YOU SO MUCH, AND I THINK IT’S IT CAN BE VERY NARROW. CHATGPT THE CHATBOT IS NOW SWITCHING THINGS UP AFTER DEVELOPERS SAY IT FELL SHORT IN RECOGNIZING SIGNS OF DELUSION OR EMOTIONAL DEPENDENCY, UNCONSCIOUSLY. YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE CAN INPUT THINGS IN A WAY THAT THE TECHNOLOGY WILL RESPOND SPECIFICALLY TO WHAT IS BEING INPUT. DOCTOR DAVID GUTTERMAN, A PSYCHOLOGIST WITH CONE HEALTH, SAYS THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS THAT NEED TO BE INPUTTED BEFORE YOU LOOK AT THE OUTPUT OF TECHNOLOGY. PEOPLE WILL LAUNCH INTO AND GO DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE OF A PARTICULAR DIAGNOSIS. BECAUSE AGAIN, IF YOU LOOK AT SOME OF THE RESPONSES THAT COME OUT OF THE TECHNOLOGY, IT’S IT’S PRETTY CONVINCING. AND SOMETIMES THE LEVEL OF PERSUASION CAN RESULT IN UNHEALTHY REPLACEMENTS. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO WILL UTILIZE THE TECHNOLOGY AS EITHER A SUBSTITUTE OR A WAY OF GETTING INFORMATION WITHOUT NECESSARILY, YOU KNOW, VALIDATING IT. HE SAYS THERE ARE SOME PROS THAT OUTWEIGH THE CONS. NORMALIZING, YOU KNOW, SOME EXPERIENCES PEOPLE HAVE OR CONDITIONS THEY HAVE. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, YOU KNOW, GUIDE THEM TO GET PROFESSIONAL HELP. BUT HE HOPES THE CHAT BOX CAN BE AN ADJUNCT TO MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT, BUT NOT THE FINAL SAY SO. MY CONCERN IS LESS ABOUT WHAT I’M HEARING. IT’S MORE ABOUT WHAT I’M NOT HEARING. OPENAI SAYS THEY ARE WORKING WITH PHYSICIANS AND RESEARCHERS ON HOW CHATGPT RESPONDS TO THESE CRITICAL MOMENTS. THE COMPANY ALSO SAYS THAT THEY’RE DEVELOPING TOOLS TO POINT PEOPLE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION DURING TIME OF CRISIS. IF YOU ARE EVER IN A CRISIS, YOU CAN CALL 988.
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Updated: 12:00 PM CDT Sep 15, 2025
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Google's top AI scientist says ā€˜learning how to learn’ will be next generation's most needed skill
AP logo
Updated: 12:00 PM CDT Sep 15, 2025
Editorial Standards ā“˜
A top Google scientist and 2024 Nobel laureate said Friday that the most important skill for the next generation will be ā€œlearning how to learnā€ to keep pace with change as artificial intelligence transforms education and the workplace.Related video above: New research shows ChatGPT is causing unhealthy interactions with teensSpeaking at an ancient Roman theater at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens, Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google’s DeepMind, said rapid technological change demands a new approach to learning and skill development.ā€œIt’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,ā€ Hassabis told the audience. ā€œThe only thing you can say for certain is that huge change is coming.ā€The neuroscientist and former chess prodigy said artificial general intelligence — a futuristic vision of machines that are as broadly smart as humans or at least can do many things as well as people can — could arrive within a decade. This, he said, will bring dramatic advances and a possible future of ā€œradical abundanceā€ despite acknowledged risks.Hassabis emphasized the need for ā€œmeta-skills,ā€ such as understanding how to learn and optimizing one’s approach to new subjects, alongside traditional disciplines like math, science and humanities.ā€œOne thing we’ll know for sure is you’re going to have to continually learn ... throughout your career,ā€ he said.The DeepMind co-founder, who established the London-based research lab in 2010 before Google acquired it four years later, shared the 2024 Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing AI systems that accurately predict protein folding — a breakthrough for medicine and drug discovery.Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis joined Hassabis at the Athens event after discussing ways to expand AI use in government services. Mitsotakis warned that the continued growth of huge tech companies could create great global financial inequality.ā€œUnless people actually see benefits, personal benefits, to this (AI) revolution, they will tend to become very skeptical," he said. "And if they see ... obscene wealth being created within very few companies, this is a recipe for significant social unrest.ā€Mitsotakis thanked Hassabis, whose father is Greek Cypriot, for rescheduling the presentation to avoid conflicting with the European basketball championship semifinal between Greece and Turkey. Greece later lost the game 94-68.____Kelvin Chan in London contributed to this story.

A top Google scientist and 2024 Nobel laureate said Friday that the most important skill for the next generation will be ā€œlearning how to learnā€ to keep pace with change as artificial intelligence transforms education and the workplace.

Related video above: New research shows ChatGPT is causing unhealthy interactions with teens

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Speaking at an ancient Roman theater at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens, Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google’s DeepMind, said rapid technological change demands a new approach to learning and skill development.

ā€œIt’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,ā€ Hassabis told the audience. ā€œThe only thing you can say for certain is that huge change is coming.ā€

The neuroscientist and former chess prodigy said — a futuristic vision of machines that are as broadly smart as humans or at least can do many things as well as people can — could arrive within a decade. This, he said, will bring dramatic advances and a possible future of ā€œradical abundanceā€ despite acknowledged risks.

Hassabis emphasized the need for ā€œmeta-skills,ā€ such as understanding how to learn and optimizing one’s approach to new subjects, alongside traditional disciplines like math, science and humanities.

ā€œOne thing we’ll know for sure is you’re going to have to continually learn ... throughout your career,ā€ he said.

The DeepMind co-founder, who established the London-based research lab in 2010 before Google acquired it four years later, in chemistry for developing AI systems that accurately predict protein folding — a breakthrough for medicine and drug discovery.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis joined Hassabis at the Athens event after discussing ways to expand AI use in government services. Mitsotakis warned that the continued growth of huge tech companies could create great global financial inequality.

ā€œUnless people actually see benefits, personal benefits, to this (AI) revolution, they will tend to become very skeptical," he said. "And if they see ... obscene wealth being created within very few companies, this is a recipe for significant social unrest.ā€

Mitsotakis thanked Hassabis, whose father is Greek Cypriot, for rescheduling the presentation to avoid conflicting with the European basketball championship semifinal between Greece and Turkey. Greece later lost the game 94-68.

____

Kelvin Chan in London contributed to this story.