"Can machines think?" Alan Turing wondered in 1950.

The AI era has arrived, consuming us in many ways. It may have seemed like a far-fetched idea, but AI can already detect diseases, operate drones, translate between languages, recognize emotions, trade stocks, and even defeat people at "Jeopardy." It appears that AI is growing a mind of its own. Moreover, AI began as a replica of human intelligence through machines and computer systems, as termed by John McCarthy in 1956.

Today, AI represents a faster way to analyze data and draw conclusions than humans, resulting in more accurate future forecasts. Ray Kurzweil, Google's head of engineering, predicts that machines will achieve human intelligence by 2029. Kurzweil also predicts that by 2045, we will have reached technological singularity, a point at which AI will outperform humans.

What is narrow AI?

Narrow AI, also referred to as "weak AI," is an AI that can outperform a human in a task that is tightly specified and structured. Its purpose is to do a particular activity, such as an internet search, face recognition, or speech detection, while adhering to guidelines and constraints. People refer to these functions as 'narrow' or 'weak' because of the limits.

Narrow AI applications don't think for themselves; they replicate human behaviour using pre-programmed rules, parameters, and scenarios. Machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision are the most common narrow AI techniques.

Examples of Narrow AI

Here are a few examples of how Narrow AI has used today's technology.

• Searching the internet
• Disease detection
• Facial recognition
• Recommender systems

What is general AI?

To put it another way, Narrow AI is where we've been, and General AI is where we want to go. "Strong AI" refers to artificial general intelligence that allows robots to use knowledge and skills in various situations. Whereas narrow AI applications can perform single, automated, and repetitive activities, general AI aims to construct robots that can reason and think the same way humans can. So, in general, AI is where we're going, although it's still in its infancy.

The human brain is highly complex, and models that match the interconnections of the biological network are on the way. Advanced technologies like natural language processing and computer vision, on the other hand, are decreasing the gap between narrow AI and general AI.

Narrow AI-complete its job without causing unintended consequences; even minor changes can harm its performance. For example, it won't adapt if you ask narrow AI to find a cure for kidney failure but then show it photographs of the lungs. Here are a few real-world examples of general AI in action.

Examples of General AI

• Chatbots
• Autonomous Vehicles

What is broad AI?

Today's self-driving automobiles are a collection of decision-making AI systems. This kind of AI system is broad AI. A system within a bank that examines the balance sheet of corporate customers to determine the optimal currency hedging plan is another example of broad AI. Another example is a system that assists engineers working on complex maintenance tasks on a platform in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. 

Broad AI is concerned with integrating AI into a specific business process of an organization, where business- and enterprise-specific knowledge and data are required to train this type of system. This AI system, we believe, is currently the most valuable for businesses.

Toward Artificial Super-Intelligence (ASI)

AGI is a step up from ASI, in which AI outperforms human intelligence to operate at a genius level. The possibilities are endless, from inventing nanotechnology to curing aging, given that ASI is still hypothetical.

Many philosophers and scientists believe it is possible to achieve ASI. According to cognitive scientist David Chalmer, expanding capabilities and efficiency to attain ASI will be simple once after general AI. According to Moore's law, computer processing power should double every two years, meaning technology's ultimate potential is boundless.

Conclusion

Although general AI and ASI are still a long way off, AI progresses swiftly, with discoveries and breakthroughs. For example, in comparison to human intelligence, AI has the potential to multitask, recall and memorize knowledge flawlessly, operate without interruption, perform calculations at lightning speed, filter through vast records and papers, and make fair judgements. Recently, Google's AlphaZero used reinforcement learning to win a 100-game chess tournament, and IBM developed robots that can compete in world-class argument competitions.

Consider R2-D2 from "Star Wars" or Jarvis from "Iron Man" for a glimpse into what experts are calling the future of artificial general intelligence (AGI). Microsoft just made a $1 billion investment in AGI through OpenAI. General AI can accomplish anything a person can do intellectually. In addition, general AI mimics human behaviour and can complete any task. Furthermore, the future of technology is general AI. Computer gear must perform more total calculations per second (cps) to develop global AI.