戴密斯·哈萨比斯：AlphaGo背后的超强大脑

战胜世界冠军的AlphaGo自然是非比寻常的，但AlphaGo背后的那个人更加非比寻常。随着AlphaGo名声大噪，其背后的超强大脑、DeepMind公司的创始人之一戴密斯·哈萨比斯的履历开始被人们津津乐道。国际象棋冠军、少年天才、电子游戏冠军、学者、创业家……种种炫目头衔的背后其实是一个聪慧、坚定、努力而又乐于挑战的人。

Tony Corfe still remembers the time he first saw Demis Hassabis play chess. He was in charge of the primary schools team in Barnet， north London， and looking for new recruits1） when one week a thin six-year-old boy turned up.

"He was brilliant，" Corfe says. "He was determined， and he definitely wanted to win. Of all the schools that I had contact with， he was the best player. He was top of the infants2）."

The boy quickly developed into a chess prodigy， winning dozens of tournaments3） before representing England in competitions. By the age of 13， he had reached the standard of chess master.

Now， 39-year-old Hassabis is the founder and chief executive of DeepMind. In his friends&apos； eyes， he is shy but determined. "He is not a showman， and he keeps his head down，" says Prof Geraint Rees， director of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London （UCL）， where Hassabis studied for a PhD. "Nerdy is the wrong word， but he is definitely of a technical talent. His determination and drive are quite striking."

A glance at his CV4） will prove that. He left school at 16， having taken his A-levels. He spent his gap year5） gaining experience in computer games programming， which was to become his first career， by co-writing Theme Park， one of the most successful games of the Nineties.

After graduating with a double first6） in computer science from Cambridge， he set up his own games business， Elixir Studios， which was responsible for such hits7） as Evil Genius and Republic， the latter being nominated for a BAFTA award.

"He is extraordinary，" says Joe McDonagh， who co-founded Elixir with Hassabis. "He was only 21 when we set it up [McDonagh was 25]， but he had an incredibly old head on such young shoulders." Although he credits Hassabis&apos；s intelligence， McDonagh says his more important ability was to inspire a team. "He truly believes the thing you are working on will change the world and will be remembered for ever. That is incredibly inspiring. Most of us are held back by fear， but Demis takes the attitude that everything is possible."

Nevertheless， Hassabis&apos；s path has not been completely smooth. According to friends， he grew frustrated with the more mundane8） aspects of managing Elixir. In 2009， Hassabis returned to academia9）， completing his PhD in cognitive neuroscience at UCL. In three years， he wrote a dozen research papers and succeeded in systematically linking memory with imagination for the first time. The journal Science described his achievement as one of the breakthroughs of the year. In 2011， he left academia to co-found a London-based artificial intelligence company， DeepMind Technologies. On 27 January， 2014， DeepMind was acquired by Google for ?400 m.

With DeepMind， Hassabis is trying "to get to the point where machines can learn rather than being taught". This may seem a daunting10） mission， but it is unlikely to faze11） Hassabis. "I&apos；m actually more worried about not taking risks and playing safe [than taking chances]，" he once said. "I&apos；ve always been prepared to jump in at the deep end12） and see if I can swim13） or not."

托尼·科尔夫依然记得第一次看见戴密斯·哈萨比斯下国际象棋时的情景。科尔夫当时负责伦敦北部巴尼特地区的小学国际象棋队，正在为象棋队物色新人，有一周，一个身材瘦小的六岁男孩出现了。

“他天资聪颖，”科尔夫说，“意志坚定，而且一心想要夺冠。我接触了那么多学校，他是其中最好的棋手。他是幼儿组里下得最好的。”

这个男孩很快就成长为一个国际象棋神童，赢得了几十个锦标赛的冠军，之后还代表英国参加各种比赛。到13岁时，他已经达到了国际象棋大师的水平。

哈萨比斯现已39岁，是DeepMind公司的创始人兼首席执行官。在朋友眼中，他性格腼腆却意志坚定。“他不爱出风头，为人很低调。”杰兰特·里斯教授说。里斯教授是伦敦大学学院认知神经学研究所的主任，哈萨比斯曾在该研究所读博。“用书呆子这个词来形容他不太恰当，但他绝对是个技术天才。他的决断力和干劲儿相当惊人。”

只消看一眼他的简历就可以证明这一点。他16岁就完成了A-level课程（译注：英国学生的大学入学考试课程），毕业离校。在间隔年里，他与人共同编写了上世纪90年代最成功的电子游戏之一《主题公园》的程序，从而积累了电子游戏编程方面的经验，而电子游戏编程在之后成了他人生的第一份事业。

以双优成绩从剑桥大学计算机科学专业毕业后，哈萨比斯创建了自己的电子游戏公司——Elixir工作室。该工作室发布了像《邪恶天才》和《共和国》这样风靡一时的游戏，后者还曾获得英国电影和电视艺术学院游戏大奖的提名。

“他异常优秀。”乔·麦克多纳说。他同哈萨比斯共同创建了Elixir。“我们创立公司时他才21岁[麦克多纳当时25岁]，但他年轻的肩膀上却有一颗成熟得令人难以置信的头脑。”虽然麦克多纳对哈萨比斯的聪明才智大加称赞，但他说哈萨比斯更重要的能力是可以激励整个团队。“他真心相信你现在所做的事将会改变世界并被永远铭记。这种态度有着令人难以置信的激励效果。我们大多数人都会因胆怯而退缩，但戴密斯却始终抱着一切皆有可能的态度。”

然而，哈萨比斯这一路走得并不完全顺利。据他的朋友们说，Elixir日常管理中更为世俗的工作就曾让他屡屡受挫。2009年，哈萨比斯重返学术界，拿到了伦敦大学学院认知神经学专业博士学位。三年时间里，他撰写了十几份论文，并首次成功地在记忆与想象之间建立了系统的联系。《科学》杂志将其成就列为年度科学突破之一。2011年，他离开学术界，和别人共同创办了总部设在伦敦的人工智能公司DeepMind科技公司，该公司后于2014年1月27日被谷歌以四亿英镑收购。

哈萨比斯创立DeepMind公司，是希望“机器能达到自主学习而不是人为去教的水平”。这看似是一个令人却步的任务，但却不可能吓退哈萨比斯。“实际上，[相比于冒险一试]我更担心不去冒险、一味求稳，”他曾说，“我随时准备着去挑战没有做过的困难任务，看自己能不能成功。”