Artificial General Intelligence (AGI): Are We There Yet?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a broad field of computer science focused on creating systems that can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. Currently, AI systems can imitate and even outperform humans on some tasks. But we haven’t yet developed an AI system that is generally as smart as a human. What is the current state of AI technology, and where is AI heading?

Where is AI Today?

The type of AI we have now can outperform humans on some tasks. This type of AI is often called “narrow” AI because of its limited abilities, when compared to a theoretical general intelligence that is as smart as a human. We use narrow AI for specific tasks, like chatbots, image recognition, or language translation.

Currently, we’re seeing advances in agentic AI (tasks like booking a reservation), AI-assisted computer programming, and text-to-video generation. Those are all significant advances but not yet a general intelligence that is as smart as a human.

• Narrow AI: Can perform some intellectual tasks as well as a human
• General AI (AGI): Can perform most tasks as well as a human (theoretical)
• Superintelligent AI (ASI): Smarter than a human in every way (speculative)

The Path to Superintelligence

If AGI (general intelligence) is theoretical, then ASI (superintelligence) is speculative. We don’t know what superintelligence would look like, or if we would even recognize it. For now, ASI, or AI superintelligence, is just an idea.

User: “What would you do if I asked you to build me a Time Machine?”
ChatGPT: “AI operates like an information-processing and optimization system, not a thinking entity. If a problem is unsolvable within the available knowledge, I can analyze and explain, but I won’t ‘invent’ a breakthrough like a human might through creative insight.”

What Are the Limitations?

When we talk about an intelligence surpassing our own, we must maintain constraints and ethical boundaries. Suppose I design a game and tell the AI to win? What’s to stop the AI from rewriting the rules (aka, cheating)? Before we play the game, we must teach AI the rules and prioritize the training that says, “you must follow the rules.”

Many of the benefits gained by AI will require a physicality to accomplish tasks. An AI may know the recipe but it needs hands to make an omelette. We expect the field of robotics to grow rapidly alongside AI.

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