The Thinking Game

Greg Kohs's documentary is about the artificial intelligence researcher Demis Hassabis and his goal of building general artificial intelligence. Hassabis began as a chess master, worked as a game developer, studied neuroscience and then founded his own research laboratory. The protein folding problem is at the centre. The team turns to a question long unsolved in that field, and the second half shows the daily form of that work: failed attempts, internal argument and waiting. Kohs had filmed a project from the same laboratory before. The narrative does not look critically at the technology; risks are passed over briefly and the subject is largely told from the founder's view. Who it's for: those interested in science documentary and artificial intelligence research. Who it's not for: viewers expecting the contested sides of the field; the film gives criticism very little room.