There's this mystery of what, actually, is this thing?: DeepMind's philosopher
A profile of a philosopher embedded within Google DeepMind who grapples with fundamental questions about the nature of artificial intelligence, consciousness, and what it means for a machine to "understand" or "be" something. The piece explores the tension between technical AI development and deep philosophical inquiry into the essence of these systems.
Background
Google DeepMind is the London-based AI lab (merged from DeepMind and Google Brain in 2023) behind breakthroughs like AlphaGo and AlphaFold. The article profiles its first "philosopher-in-residence" — a role embedded within a cutting-edge AI research lab to grapple with foundational questions: what is intelligence, consciousness, or "understanding" in an AI system? Unlike most tech company ethicists who focus on policy or safety, this role is about metaphysical and philosophical puzzles that arise when you're building systems that might be considered minds. The key tension: AI labs are racing to build ever-more-capable systems while still lacking a clear account of what they're actually making — hence the "mystery" in the title.