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ATHENS, Greece: A top Google scientist and 2024 Nobel laureate said Friday that the most important skill for the next generation will be “learning how to learn” to keep pace with change as Artificial Intelligence transforms education and the workplace.
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.
“It’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,” Hassabis told the audience. “The only thing you can say for certain is that huge change is coming.”
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 “radical abundance” despite acknowledged risks.

Hassabis emphasized the need for “meta-skills,” such as understanding how to learn and optimizing one’s approach to new subjects, alongside traditional disciplines like math, science and humanities.
“One thing we’ll know for sure is you’re going to have to continually learn ... throughout your career,” 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.
“Unless 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.”
Mitsotakis thanked Hassabis, whose father is Greek Cypriot, for rescheduling the presentation to avoid conflicting with the European basketball championship semifinal between Greece and Turkiye. Greece later lost the game 94-68.

LONDON: A group of Turkish hackers reportedly managed to video call Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and subsequently leaked his phone number online.

According to local media reports, Katz accepted a video call from one of the hackers on Thursday evening, who then took a screenshot and published it online.

The hackers also released screenshots of multiple messages sent to Katz via WhatsApp, which appeared to contain insults and threats, including “We will kill you.”

“Hey Katz, never forget this, your death is near, we are the defenders of Qassam, we will bury you and your country in history,” read one of the messages, apparently referencing the armed wing of Hamas.

Israeli media reported that Katz had maintained the same phone number for several years and that it had previously been circulated in various groups. The number has since been blocked.

In a post on his X account, Katz claimed the hackers belonged to “organized Islamist-jihadist gangs from various countries around the world.”

He wrote: “Let them continue to call and threaten and I will continue to order the elimination of their fellow terrorist leaders.”

A Turkish hacker could call Israeli defense minister Israel Katz via Whatsapp. Katz then blocked him.

— İbrahim Karataş (@ibratas1)

Other members of the ruling Likud party, including Ofir Katz, David Bitan, and Moshe Saada, have also been targeted by hackers, Israeli media reported Friday.

After reportedly receiving hundreds of WhatsApp video calls from unknown numbers, which they did not answer, the politicians also received text messages containing images of Palestinian flags.

It remains unclear whether the hackers accessed any sensitive information, or if the breach represents a broader security vulnerability.

In August 2024, while serving as foreign minister, Katz sparked controversy by attacking Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on X, accusing him of turning Turkiye into a dictatorship due to his “support for the murderers and rapists of Hamas.”

The post included an AI-generated image of Erdogan against Istanbul’s backdrop with a burning Turkish flag, provoking outrage in Turkey.

Since assuming his role as defense minister in November, Katz has generated further controversy by reportedly spearheading plans to confine Palestinians in what critics have labeled a “concentration camp” built on the ruins of Rafah in southern Gaza.