The Quiet Parts Out Loud

System Alerts 003 from Engines of Change

There’s a moment when the hype cycle slows down just long enough for the stakes to show. This week, a prominent voice in AI says AGI might be five years out, text-to-video takes another leap forward, Epic lowers the barrier to photorealistic avatars, and 260+ U.S. legislators push back against a quiet federal AI land grab.

In other words: the future’s still being shaped, but the gloves are off.

The Highlights

1. Demis Hassabis says AGI has a 50% chance of arriving within 5–10 years

In a Wired interview, the DeepMind CEO drops one of the boldest forecasts yet: there’s a coin flip’s chance that systems as smart as humans will be here within a decade. He also warns about misuse, job displacement, and the urgent need for new societal frameworks.

Why it matters: It’s one thing when futurists speculate. It’s another when someone building the future says it out loud. Even if AGI doesn’t arrive on time, belief in its imminence changes how governments, institutions, and creatives position themselve…