What is Artificial General Intelligence and how does it work?

 

“Nobody phrases it this way, but I think that artificial intelligence is almost a humanities discipline. It’s really an attempt to understand human intelligence and human cognition.”

— Sebastian Thrun 

 

Human intelligence is required for - reasoning, common sense, planning, learning, communicating and ultimately integrating all of the above to achieve a goal or accomplish a task. Having capability to imbibe using the senses like hear, touch, feel and acting using objects, words, movement requires intelligence of some kind. 

 

Doing tedious jobs and lengthy work can be tiresome for humans. Because of which they can make mistakes and errors in their work. AI has made all of this easy. Machines and programs are developed to tackle complex problems and make them easier. 

 

AI can be used to do heavy and monotonous tasks which humans feel uneasy about. No mistakes will be made and the results will be so much better. Developing AI took time and patience and a lot of skills. 

 

But now as technology is becoming more advanced, people are starting to think out of the box. They want to make something extra, something more lively with which they can interact. 

 

AI has fulfilled a lot of needs but it is lacking that human touch. Humans are aiming for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), this will bring a revolution in the whole system and take AI a step ahead.

 

In this blog you will understand the concept of AGI in detail along with its uses, applications and what famous researchers and physicists have to say about it.

 

(Suggested Read - Difference between AI and Human Intelligence)

 

 

What is Artificial General intelligence?

 

Artificial General Intelligence abbreviated as AGI is a machine that can understand the world just like humans and carry out all the big tasks that humans may fail to do. The speed, efficiency and effectiveness of these machines is what makes them capable of doing everything like humans in fact a tad better than humans.

 

In reality these machines don’t exist. But we have seen many movies in which AGI powered machines are shown. 2001: A Space Odyssey, Terminator, Divergent, Matrix are some of those movies. These movies have shown AGI differently. 

 

They have shown AGI as a weapon that is capable of destroying the whole human race. AGI will rise to power and make humans its slaves. In Terminator and Matrix the same is shown.

 

They have shown that AGI will be indifferent to human sufferings and their main aim will be to destroy mankind and wipe them off from the face of earth. But in some Utopian imaginations AGI were depicted as custodians that will run egalitarian societies where humans will have no sufferings and discriminations at all. 

 

Humans can do whatever they like and pursue any career and technology advancements will be at peak. So, everyone has a different point of view about AGI.

 

It is rightly said that - “There is no reason and no way that a human mind can keep up with an artificial intelligence machine by 2035.:” —Gray Scott

 

What will happen in reality is unknown. No such AGI inventions have been done so far. So, will they wipe mankind or be a start of creating a civilized society is yet to be known. 

 

Can AGI outsmart humans in any way?

 

It is an interesting question. Yes, AGI can totally outsmart humans in every way. They can understand everything better. They will have the same general capabilities like humans too. 

 

You can base your opinion by comparing computers and humans. Computers are not AGI based but they are still more capable than humans. For example - they can perform calculations fast and with accuracy. 

 

So you can imagine what AGI can do. In real life the closest thing to AGI that is invented are robots. Have you heard about Sophia? One of the craziest inventions done by humans. 

 

(Recommended blog - History of AI)

 

Difference between AI and AGI
 

AI is a term that is used for all the machine learning stuff. But on the other hand AGI is the ability of the machines to do a task efficiently like human beings. AI has developed and many innovations are being done in this area. AGI on the other hand is nowhere near. 

 

We are in an AI environment mostly every time. Starting from the virtual agents, we are interacting with AI. But AI has its own limitations. The ability of AI to perform the tasks is based on its programming and if a little change is done while using AI, it will show errors. 

 

Here is an example - A human who knows Chinese can identify the symbols, speak the language, and recommend Chinese places. But if these tasks were performed by AI then, a different program would be required for each of the three activities.

 

(Recommended read- More Examples of AI)

 

 

What can AGI do?

 

AGI can perform those tasks which humans can do as well as those which humans can’t. It will not only have the flexible thinking capacity of humans but their reasoning skills also. It will be a combination of humans and machines. 

 

No wonder if AGI based technology is invented, a lot of pressure and load will be relieved off humans. Gradually everything that humans can do will be done by machines if everything goes right. 

 

It is stated that 50% AGI will be developed by 2040 or 2050. By 2075 it will reach 90%. Nick Bostrom the philosopher who stated the above also gave a hint that 30 years after AGI is developed “superintelligence” will also be expected. But a recent assessment by many AI experts have revealed that society is still not ready for it. 

 

Invention of AGI can cause some disruptions in society. So, we need to be ready beforehand for it. We still have a little understanding of the human brain and we need to go far. Then only we will be ready to get into development of AGI.

 

AGI could reduce the human labour requirement. This can lead to many social ramifications. Social issues like unemployment and poverty will increase. A safety net will be needed to make it right. 

 

AGI machines will excel in daily tasks and also in the field of surgeries and for self driving car companies. It will have a positive impact on the people and many lives can be saved using it.

 

There are a lot of things that AGI can do once developed. But the current situation is not even close to its development. All these talks about AGI at this moment are fiction based. 

 

AI researchers need to study the brain and scrutinize it to get proof that intelligence is possible. "Studying animal cognition and its neural implementation also has a vital role to play, as it can provide a window into various important aspects of higher-level general intelligence," they wrote in a paper last year.

 

(Must read- List of the top 10 best AI companies in the world)

 

 

Superintelligence and its relation to AGI

 

It is said that once AGI development has reached 100% they will start developing superintelligence. Once AGI exists it will start developing itself at an exponential rate such that it will be conscious in itself. 

 

It will operate itself and be beyond human comprehension. In 2045 when it is believed that AGI will be active, the machines will be more intelligent than the entire human race.

 

It is one of the biggest fears in the minds of many top AI experts. If AGI develops superintelligence then it will impose a lot of risks on people. The CEO of SpaceX and Tesla has called AGI as the biggest threat to be faced by mankind. It is the biggest “existential threat” as he called it. 

 

Not only Elon Musk, but a world renowned physician Stephen Hawking who is also professor at the Cambridge University mentioned his views on AGI. According to him, 100% development of Artificial General Intelligence would spell the end of the human race.  

 

He also said that humans are still slow in development and if AGI rose to power, we would be suppressed and enslaved by it. Creating machines that can think will lead to a disaster that no human can control.