Mission, Willpower, and Taste: What It Means to Be Human in the AI Era
Bin Yang
Professor at the School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University
Author: [USA] Sebastian Mallaby
Translator: Zhou Jiangong
Publication Date: March 2026
Publisher: Cheerful Culture / Zhejiang Science and Technology Press
"The structure of the world is essentially created by the mind. I want to use my neuroscience research to prove this: reality might be a simulation." On a morning in Abu Dhabi when I woke up early due to jet lag, I finished reading Hassabis: The Brain of Google AI and was immersed in Hassabis' adventures. "Things are developing so crazily and so chaotically," which made Hassabis, who "should have felt extremely excited," realize that he was in a contradictory moment. "I must admit that the process will be messy, and I can only do my best. Perhaps, we - as a whole human race - will eventually find a way out. I still remain optimistic about this." The neuroscience frontier conference jointly organized by the Tsinghua-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research and several international partners was going to start in three hours. As I prepared my speech, I thought to myself that perhaps no other book was more suitable than Hassabis: The Brain of Google AI to kick off a day full of scientific exploration spirit and the pursuit of the mysteries of brain science.
This is a biography full of humanistic speculation. Although the content is filled with scientific terms and business scenarios, as well as thrilling conflicts and games - a symphony of technology, capital, and even politics, and the reverie that another choice he made might lead humanity into another parallel universe. However, with rich details and a smooth storyline, Hassabis emerges as a real and three - dimensional person, not a god shaped by various news reports - although the author also uses words like "creator" to describe him; not an entrepreneur - although he leads one of the most competitive parts of the world's most important technology companies; not a scientific weirdo - although the book records many of his soliloquies in their original form, which might inevitably give many readers such an impression; not a child prodigy - although he was precocious and had an IQ achievement beyond his peers. Instead, he is a flesh - and - blood person, full of dreams, willpower, and contradictions, standing vividly in front of the readers.
Regarding Hassabis' life journey so far, different people can have different cognitive dimensions. Although he is only 50 years old in 2026, his life journey is full of turning points. Here, I don't want to spoil too much and deprive you of the fun of self - discovery. I just want to pick out three keywords, try to make some summaries, and talk about the possible inspiration this book might have for the development (and education) of the people I care about.
The first keyword is purpose, which can also be called mission. For Hassabis, his mission is to found a company that explores AGI (Artificial General Intelligence). "I want to be the one who solves AI problems." Just as Stefan Zweig wrote in Sternstunden der Menschheit (translated as Decisive Moments in History in English): "The greatest luck in a person's life is to discover their mission in the middle of their life, when they are in their prime." This sentence is fully reflected in Hassabis. Moreover, he discovered it even earlier, when he was only 11 years old.
At that time, in a chess tournament held in a castle in Liechtenstein, in a 10 - hour endgame that could have ended in a draw, Hassabis conceded defeat and was ridiculed by the crowd. He felt nauseous, but early the next morning, he had a sudden epiphany. He asked himself, "Shouldn't such a huge collective intellectual investment be used for more noble causes, such as science or medicine?" At the moment when he realized that human precious intelligence should not be wasted, perhaps a crucial seed was quietly sown - humanity should perhaps pool its collective strength to explore AGI.
The so - called mission, if explained literally, is something that makes a person "give it their all." A mission makes the person who shoulders it really work hard and do their utmost. Because they also worry about the brevity of life and the unpredictability of the world. A mission makes a person extremely eager, but because they don't know what will happen in the world and which will come first, tomorrow or the afterlife, they must "give it their all." This is exactly the case with Hassabis. "He works, sleeps, eats, and breathes, all centered around his mission."
What made him "give it his all" every moment might be what his father said to him when he was a teenager - regardless of winning or losing, what really matters is that you try your best. Hassabis later recalled that he really understood and practiced this sentence literally - to give absolutely, absolutely, and absolutely all his efforts. "The only way I know to really try my best is to push myself to the verge of collapse. Because only at that moment can you say that you have really done your best... It's like a marathon. You basically have to push yourself to the point where you collapse as soon as you cross the finish line... Ideally, you should be sent to the hospital, but not die. Only then can you say that you have tried your best... That's how I understood it when I was about 9 or 10 years old."
This serious "misunderstanding" of his father's encouragement might be the real secret behind the child prodigy and genius scientist in the eyes of outsiders. The sense of mission to find an intellectual way out for all of humanity, through the extreme burning of a specific individual's intelligence, illuminates the path forward for the world.
"At two o'clock in the morning, I was sitting at my desk, feeling that reality was staring at me and screaming at me. Literally, really screaming. It seemed to be trying to tell me something, as long as I listened carefully enough." This passage of Hassabis' words recorded by the author in the book always makes me think of the imagery in the opening part of the movie Oppenheimer, which is like a dream and also like entering Oppenheimer's mind to search for the structure of matter. Perhaps many readers would describe this early - morning routine (he is used to working during those few undisturbed hours) as a state of flow. Others might view it from the perspective of an analogy to an "oracle" that actually emerges, regarding the purpose and mission arrangement of "heaven bestows a great responsibility on this person and life is for a great cause."
The second keyword is will, which can also be called mental strength. You can choose a multi - modal reading method. While reading this book, watch the documentary The Thinking Game made by Google DeepMind on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of AlphaFold, as well as the interviews and talks with Hassabis at the 2026 Davos Forum. You will see charming eyes, an unwavering expression, confident and loud - voiced speech, and an extremely firm heart. He explains his judgment on each path without hesitation or wavering, as if he is just stating the natural laws as they are. And when you see him and hear him, you will believe in him.
In the book, you will see setbacks, major setbacks, and significant setbacks befall Hassabis. It's not that these ups and downs were deliberately created to make a good - looking movie or write a page - turning novel. They really happened to Hassabis. What's rare is that the author didn't decide to write this book after Hassabis had won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and then conduct those precious conversations and Q&A with him. The origin of this book comes from Hassabis' certain obsession, which is to win the trust and support of more people by revealing his inner motivation as the inventor of a transformative technology that will have an irreversible and huge impact on the human world, and even to walk side by side with them.
He doesn't live to become super - rich. If that were the case, his will would be greatly diminished. Compared with other contemporary AI technology leaders, few people discuss Hassabis' net worth or measure his value by wealth. Time magazine announced eight AI creators and builders as the Person of the Year on December 11, 2025. You can do a test. Among these eight people sitting high and talking eloquently, which one can make you feel the most trustworthy, and which one would you be more willing to entrust the so - called human destiny to?
Will is a very magical thing. It resides in the heart and is not easy to define or describe, but once you see it, you know its existence and its power. Its source is complex. Ability, strength, power, and charm could all be its components, but it cannot be simply manufactured with a certain formula. Will also has an emerging process. "Many of my ideas are formed like this: I ponder them subconsciously, and by the time I need them, they are already fully formed." Will is importantly related to mission, but it's not a simple cause - and - effect relationship. Hassabis did say, "This is my mission, so I will go all out. I either don't do something, or I do it to the extreme." The Tao can be spoken, but once it is spoken, it is no longer the real "abode" of will.
Will makes Hassabis not just an individual, but able to integrate a group of individuals with the highest density of creativity on the planet into a mission - oriented community, to endure suffering, to bear chaos, to embrace defeat, and to fight back from the brink. When the author started the interviews and writing for this book, although there had already been successes like AlphaGo, AlphaZero, and AlphaFold, at that time, the sudden emergence of ChatGPT was making a big splash. Failing to see the potential of the dialogue system for a long time and being obsessed with the crucial point of the "grounded" world model that AGI cannot bypass, Hassabis and his company were in a state of great self - doubt. But as he candidly admitted, "My threshold for changing my stance is high because I have thought deeply about many issues... I don't deny that I might be stubborn and even difficult to get along with. But I think it's necessary. If I were as wavering as a reed in the wind, it would be a dereliction of my duty as a leader." The way he increases the team's chance of success is to ensure that the team is led by people with the mental strength who truly believe that the difficult problems can be solved.
Interestingly, because he and his team have been in London for a long time, far from Silicon Valley and the Google headquarters, in what he calls the "Hergiland Island" away from the hustle and bustle and noise, as a strange British "outsider," Hassabis just has the "peripheral innovation advantage" that I once summarized. Perhaps this is also an important secret for him to maintain his mental strength. No matter how fierce the competition is among the outside business giants, he can "forge his own path on this small 'island'." His working hours are also arranged during the periods when he can be in a state of full flow. One of his favorite ways to let his mental strength work is to let ideas flow smoothly during brainstorming sessions.
The third keyword is taste. He is full of curiosity and pursues difficult but correct things, and has no interest in being distracted by sensational things. Taste helps him always choose the right path, even if it is more difficult.
After Hassabis solves a major problem, he never spends too much time indulging in the sense of achievement. He is not out of touch with the world and can feel the value of achievement. It seems that he just enjoys the process more, the process of solving difficult problems (not ordinary or small ones, but the most difficult problems for humanity) from seemingly impossible places. This is what he is most willing to immerse himself in and invest all his time in his life.
I particularly noticed that in the more than 30 - hour one - on - one conversation between the author and Hassabis, he didn't have a simple attitude of being an outsider towards the commercial leaders at certain times and the commercial victories of some companies at certain times. Instead, he showed a kind of disdain for getting his hands dirty and didn't think those things were the right way. Although most of the time, we only see a few words between the lines, just tone words, but the emotions, stances, and postures are clearly there.
If it weren't for the fact that his past and subsequent achievements also prove that he can win battles and even wars in the management of business organizations and business competition, you might think that what he shows is just the arrogance of an intellectual or a scientist, or the affectation of arguing that the grapes are not worth eating because he can't reach them.
But he really isn't. He has his own taste. If we talk about disdain, from his leaving the chess game after a long - drawn - out battle and having an epiphany, to his sincere statement every time that what AlphaFold has done is a real contribution to humanity in the development of AI so far, you will realize that behind this attitude, there is a "rationalist core" and a person who will never easily follow those commercial "stars" who make a lot of noise. In this regard, when talking about Hassabis, I would rather say that he is the founder of Google DeepMind. Perhaps this is more in line with his true intention than associating him with Google or Alphabet.
However, in fact, the initial investment he raised and the important platform support from Google later were crucial for realizing his ideals. Although "what he most wants to show is that AI can create incredible scientific breakthroughs," for him, wealth and power are not the goals, but means to acquire scientific knowledge. Before finding out what kind of system or institution is the most suitable to manage this most important invention for all of humanity (AGI), "I really need a certain amount of power, at least the necessary power." But that's not what he really cares about - he can handle it, but he really doesn't enjoy it.
There is a wonderful sentence in the book that can best show Hassabis' taste in choosing difficult problems: "Anyone who argues by making an analogy with Einstein might attract Hassabis." Because, for Hassabis, "science is a spiritual pursuit"; in his world, "humanism, spiritual pursuit, and science are integrated." "Life is short. If you want to do this kind of project, you really don't have much time to waste."
Think about these three things: purpose, will, and taste. In fact, they are also strongly related - purpose brings will, will supports purpose, and taste is both the result of purpose and promotes will to be more focused. They are manifested in Hassabis, and also distributed in different degrees and forms in each of us. It should be noted that purpose is not a grand narrative for everyone. To test whether it is a true purpose, just see if it can really guide our hearts at all times.
Think about these three things. In us humans, in our hearts, they become an essential combination that distinguishes us from the so - called silicon - based "new species." When writing a book, it has to be published and end at a certain time. This is the rule. But we have to admit that when this book is published, its main line, the protagonist, and its impact on the world, although perhaps only a few months apart, the final results could be completely different.
But it doesn't matter. The story goes on. Hassabis is only 50 years old. In the future, at least twice the length of his life so far will unfold in front of him. Just thinking about this makes him and us excited. More wonderful stories and the development of more characters, and the rapid ups and downs of the business context on a higher level, are really worth looking forward to. But in the great changes, I think these essential qualities of being human will be seen more and more clearly with the development of AI. This is also a very valuable inspiration that this book brings to readers.
Purpose, will, and taste are three very important treasures for us to think about how to better get along with ourselves and coexist with AI and create the future in the days when AI is becoming more and more powerful.
Recently, more and more discussions, debates, and even major divisions have emerged around how to cultivate the next generation of people and new - generation organizations. This includes how education can adapt to the opportunities and challenges brought by AI - this is not just an empty statement, but the most serious countdown "bomb - defusing," and also how various organizations in society should quickly face AI and reconstruct themselves. People have seen that many junior and intermediate - level white - collar workers (knowledge workers) have not only improved their efficiency but also been liberated (releasing manpower and brains) with the help of AI and intelligent agents. People are also arguing about whether and in what way AI should intervene in certain stages of human learning and growth and in certain areas of social life. Just 10 days ago at the Davos Forum, one of Hassabis' statements in the Q&A session - that this AI revolution is 10 times more influential and 10 times faster than the previous industrial revolutions - made the whole audience and the whole world burst into a moment of excitement and fall into a long - lasting contemplation.
These are all important and increasingly urgent major propositions (answering them poorly could be a "life - threatening question"). This book is not written to answer these questions, but the three shining points in the detailed description of Hassabis' life story, which is full of legends but also has its own unique charm, provide