Demis Hassabis, CEO of DeepMind and a Nobel Prize-winning scientist, isn’t panicking over artificial intelligence taking over jobs. Unlike many tech leaders who are forecasting an “AI jobpocalypse,” Hassabis is more focused on the risks of AI misuse than on mass unemployment.

Speaking at the SXSW festival in London, he said, “Both of those risks are important, challenging ones,” referring to job disruption and AI falling into the wrong hands.

A Dangerous Tool in the Wrong Hands

What keeps Hassabis up at night is the potential for bad actors to exploit advanced AI systems. These systems, often described as Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), could match or even surpass human-level reasoning.

“A bad actor could repurpose those same technologies for a harmful end,” he warned. The real challenge, according to him, is finding a way to restrict access to these tools while allowing responsible developers to use them for good.

Recent incidents back up his concerns. Hackers have used AI to mimic voices of government officials, and deepfake content has become a growing threat. Even though new laws like the Take It Down Act aim to stop the spread of harmful deepfakes, regulation still lags behind the pace of innovation.

AI Regulation: A Global Puzzle

The DeepMind chief believes there should be a global framework to guide how AI is developed and used. But he admits that with current global tensions, cooperation is tough.

“I hope that as AI becomes more sophisticated, it’ll become clearer to the world that international guidelines are essential,” Hassabis added.

Even tech giants like Google have been rethinking their stance. In February, Google removed some ethical commitments from its AI policy, including pledges not to use AI for surveillance or weapon development.

The Future: AI as Your Everyday Assistant

Despite the risks, Hassabis is optimistic about AI’s future in everyday life. He sees a world where people use personal AI agents to complete tasks, offer recommendations, and even enhance social lives.

“We call it a universal AI assistant,” he said, explaining how Google is developing smart glasses and enhancing search tools to make this vision real.

Balancing Promise and Peril

While other leaders like Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei predict large-scale job losses—claiming AI could replace half of all entry-level white-collar roles—Hassabis sees a different picture. Yes, the workforce will change. But new roles will emerge, just like they did during the internet revolution.

“Usually what happens is new, even better jobs arrive to take the place of some of the jobs that get replaced,” he explained.

The Road Ahead

AI still has its flaws—like bias and hallucinations—that have caused public blunders, such as newspapers publishing AI-generated book lists featuring non-existent titles. So while AI continues to evolve, it’s not yet a finished product.

Hassabis believes the goal isn’t to fear AI, but to shape it. And if society can adapt, AI could be a tool that unlocks creativity, boosts productivity, and improves daily life—without replacing humans entirely.