The Thinking Game is a 2024 documentary directed by Greg Kohs that delves into the life and work of Demis Hassabis, the founder and CEO of DeepMind, a leading artificial intelligence (AI) research lab. The film chronicles Hassabis’s journey from a child chess prodigy and video game designer to a pioneering scientist in the field of artificial general intelligence (AGI). Filmed over five years, it offers an intimate look at the challenges and triumphs faced by Hassabis and his team as they strive to develop AI systems capable of matching or surpassing human cognitive abilities.
A significant portion of the documentary focuses on DeepMind’s development of AlphaFold, an AI program that achieved a groundbreaking solution to the 50-year-old challenge of predicting protein structures. This achievement has had a profound impact on the field of biology, accelerating research in areas such as drug discovery and disease understanding. While the film provides clear explanations and animations to make complex scientific concepts accessible, some critics have noted that it leans towards a corporate promotional tone and may omit broader discussions about the implications of AGI. The Thinking Game premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2024 and was released in UK cinemas on March 21, 2025.
