Artificial General Intelligence
The Basic Idea
Imagine a world where humans and computers are indistinguishable. Believe it or not, we might not be too far off from this futuristic reality.
Artificial general intelligence (AGI), also called strong AI, is a hypothetical type of artificial intelligence (AI) with human-like cognitive abilities. Unlike the AI systems we have today, AGI would be able to think, reason, and learn as well as or even better than humans.1
This level of human-like intelligence assumes that AGI would have a sense of self-control, self-understanding, and an ability to learn new skills on its own, similar to human consciousness. Some experts even believe that AGI programs would be conscious or sentient.
So, we don’t have AGI yet? That’s right. Our existing Generative AI systems, such as ChatGPT, excel in specific areas and rely heavily on the data they are trained on. They follow sets of instructions, called algorithms, to analyze vast amounts of data, identify patterns, and generate human-like responses.
These systems can even learn and adjust their behavior based on interactions, which helps them get better at what they do. In this way, they boast impressive generative capabilities, but they are still limited by their training data and predetermined parameters set by humans. Current AI programs are not actually “thinking” on their own. They mimic human intelligence but don’t possess it.
AGI, on the other hand, would have a form of human intelligence. It would possess the ability to self-teach and generalize. As such, it could complete a wide variety of tasks and solve various problems regardless of what it’s expressly trained to do.
Are we on the path to AGI? Most experts think so. Leading companies like OpenAI and Anthropic are currently racing to create AGI, but the majority of top thinkers predict we’re still a couple of decades away.2
AI programs are already disrupting life as we know it, automating many human roles and shaping the content we find online. How will the emergence of true AGI affect us? Will we be able to adapt our behavior to live in harmony with seemingly-sentient machines?
A computer would deserve to be called intelligent if it could deceive a human into believing that it was human.
— Alan Turing, computer scientist and AI pioneer.
About the Author
Kira Warje
Kira holds a degree in Psychology with an extended minor in Anthropology. Fascinated by all things human, she has written extensively on cognition and mental health, often leveraging insights about the human mind to craft actionable marketing content for brands. She loves talking about human quirks and motivations, driven by the belief that behavioural science can help us all lead healthier, happier, and more sustainable lives. Occasionally, Kira dabbles in web development and enjoys learning about the synergy between psychology and UX design.
