The way I think about this (specifically, deepmind not publishing their code or sharing their exact experimental results): advanced science is a game played by the most sophisticated actors in the world. Demis is one of those actors, and he plays the games those actors play better than anybody else I've ever seen. Those actors don't care much about the details of any specific system's accuracy: they care to know that it's possible to do this, and some general numbers about how well it works, and some hints what approaches they should take. And Nature, like other top journals, is more than willing to publish articles like this because they know it stimulates the most competitive players to bring their best games.
(I'm not defending this approach, just making an observation)
I think it's important to qualify that the relevant "game" is not advanced science per se; the game is business whose product is science. The aim isn't to do novel science; it's to do something which can be advertised as novel science. That isn't to cast aspersions on the personal motivations of Hassabis or any other individual researcher working there (which itself isn't to remove their responsibilities to public understanding); it's to cast aspersions on the structure that they're part of. And it's not to say that they can't produce novel or important science as part of their work there. And it's also not to say that the same tension isn't often present in the science world - but I think it's present to an extreme degree at DeepMind.
(Sometimes the distinction between novel science and advertisably novel science is very important, as seems to be the case in the "new materials" research dopylitty linked to in these comments: here https://www.404media.co/google-says-it-discovered-millions-o...)
Initial previews of Republic in 2000 focused upon the purported level of detail behind the game's engine, the "Totality Engine". Described as "the most advanced graphics engine ever seen, (with) no upper bound of on the number of polygons and objects", it was claimed the game could "render scenes with an unlimited number of polygons in real time".[14] Tech demonstrations of Republic at this time showcased a high polygonal level of detail,[21] with the claim that players would be able to zoom smoothly from the buildings in Novistrana to assets such as flowers upon the balconies of buildings with no loss of detail.[22] The game was further purported to have artificial intelligence that would simulate "approximately one million individual citizens" at a high level of detail,[23][19] each with "their own unique and specific AI" comprising "their own daily routine, emotions, beliefs and loyalties"
I feel like it's always worth bearing in mind when he talks about upcoming capability.
Thanks, I'd never heard about this before. I definitely think it helps in understanding his commentary. It's really a shame that DeepMind picked up his communication style.
(I'm not defending this approach, just making an observation)