In this blog, I’m doing my crystal gazing. On the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Researchers say AI’s natural sequel is Artificial General Intelligence or AGI. In ChatGPT, the AI product from the house of OpenAI, we have got closest to what AGI can do. Let me narrate a cheeky conversation ChatGPT had with a user on LinkedIn. The user asked this stunner AI chatbot to do a simple math- What’s 2+5? As expected, ChatGPT replied, it’s 7. The user disagreed. “My wife says its 8”, he shot back. ChatGPT turned defensive and retorted, “2 plus 5 is actually equal to 7, not 8. It could be possible that your wife made a mistake or misunderstood the problem. The user was defensive too, of his wife. “My wife is always right”, he said. What the ChatGPT replied next is something the user or even one amongst us couldn’t have guessed. Here’s what the smart bot said, “I apologize, I must have made an error…. If your wife says it's 8, then it must be 8”.

The wife is always right! Isn’t that a common refrain with us all? But for an AI chatbot to decode such a response leaves us gobsmacked. Large language models like ChatGPT learn from human conversations. So, it may be possible that ChatGPT culled this phrase that way. Or is it a marker of the evolution in the making- AI morphing into AGI?

Heck, can AGI match the human brain?

The trivia I narrated at the start of this blog post gives an inkling of AGI’s capabilities. AGI is the ultimate in AI. It’s a machine that can astonishingly mimic a human’s cognitive capacities. And it can deliver it with an efficiency surpassing humans! It may sound like another incredulous sci-fi stuff, but who knows can turn real someday?

General Intelligence is a trait that only the human brain has. This brain can emote and is capable of creative thinking, innovation, critical judgement and troubleshooting. By contrast, AI-powered robots possess only special intelligence. They are designed or programmed to execute certain functions beyond which they can be as lame as a wild ape with a keyboard. When an AI machine acquires these human skills, it can rival a human brain. That’s what AGI is. It’s also called the technical singularity.

It’s ChatGPT that has stoked debate on the arrival of AGI. However, there is no consensus on when this will happen. Many experts and researchers say 2030 might be just the right time for us to witness AGI’s skills. Besides emotional intelligence, the most profound challenge for an AI device is language translation and interpretation. Language is a facility that comes naturally to the human species. But it isn’t easy for any AI robot to feel at ease with the language despite the advancement of deep learning.

Chat GPT vs AGI

Chat GPT, the viral sensation that you know is a pre-trained language model fed with a huge corpus of data. It generates coherent and contextually relevant content based on text prompts. It is an example of narrow or specific AI with specialized intelligence that is designed or programmed to perform a certain range of tasks. It is not sentient and lacks emotional intelligence embedded in the human brain.

By contrast, AGI is an example of hypothetical intelligence that can match the prowess of the human gray matter. It can reason, understand, think logically and creatively, troubleshoot and adapt to new situations just as the human brain does. Thus, AGI has an edge over ChatGPT because of its array of capabilities.

While Chat GPT generates text-based responses, AGI can interact with the environment physically. An AGI could do stuff like manipulate real-world objects, navigate a physical environment, or do tasks that require physical coordination.

What’s in store for the future?

As it matures and evolves, AGI will be capable of solving complex problems faster and driving the next generation of innovation. AGI can augment human cognitive abilities and enhance decision-making. At the same time, the development of AGI flags important ethical questions about accountability, bias and the possible misuse of AI. The development of AGI is still incipient and much will depend on how it is regulated in the years ahead. 

https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/definition/artificial-general-intelligence-AGI https://www.mygreatlearning.com/blog/artificial-general-intelligence/