Hassabis wrote the note "Be Dr. No" in his design notebook as a reminder to himself of a high concept he described as promising.
Unresolvable The public record could not settle it.
Factual: Statements about the present or the past, checked against the record: did they hold up?
Said for an organisation they lead or work for; it counts on both records.
What would count as true or false
True: Hassabis's 2004 writing (such as his Evil Genius / Elixir Studios design diary or column) records that he wrote the note "Be Dr. No" in the design notebook he keeps with him, as a reminder of a promising high concept. Mostly true: the account matches except for a minor detail (for example, the exact wording of the note or which notebook). Mixed: the note is documented but the context differs materially, for example it is not presented as a reminder of a promising high concept. Mostly false: the note or concept is attributed differently, for example to someone else or to a different medium. False: the contemporaneous source shows no such note, or shows a different note.
Set before the research began.
Evidence (1)
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E1 Interview with an Evil Genius Eurogamer · 4 October 2004
“Then I kind of left it alone, like I do with a lot of ideas, and then when we needed something that was a bit more lighthearted”
Reasoning
The only evidence is a 2004 Eurogamer interview (E1). In the quoted passage, the speaker says he left an idea alone and came back to it when something more lighthearted was needed. The quote does not mention a design notebook, the note "Be Dr. No", or a promising high concept. The evidence therefore cannot confirm or refute the proposition.
Cite this claim
Demis Hassabis, “Hassabis wrote the note "Be Dr. No" in his design notebook as a reminder to himself of a high concept he described as promising.” (said 2004). Verdict: unresolvable. Reliability API, claim c_7443ad7953de, method 0.1.0+c876030c, dataset release v1.1.2. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_7443ad7953de
This claim is in dataset release v1.1.2, with the same verdict.
Reply to this claim
More factual claims by Demis Hassabis
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Resolved true
“In 2016 AlphaGo beat Lee Sedol 4-1 in a famous match in Seoul”
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Mostly true
“Our lead artist, Brian Gillies, wanted a shiny "atomic age" '60s style for the game, a sort of "beautiful people in a beautiful world" feel, and I think you'll agree that the game looks really fresh…”
Lead artist Brian Gillies wanted a shiny "atomic age" 1960s style for Evil Genius.
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Mostly true
“The more the player gloats, the more notoriety he or she gains (notoriety is the measure of the player's respect in the criminal underworld and is key to progress through the game).”
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Mostly true
“I first had the kernel of the idea for Evil Genius way before Elixir had even started.”
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Resolved true
“But the more the player gloats, the more chance there is that it will backfire, allowing the agent to turn the tables and escape.”
Verdicts are made automatically; how verdicts are made.