Artificial General Intelligence vs. AI

Key takeaways

Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is a theoretical type of AI that proposes computers can possess human-like, complex reasoning skills. 

• Some artificial intelligence (AI) in use today, such as ChatGPT, is an example of generative AI, not artificial general intelligence. 

• For AI systems to evolve to AGI, they would need to develop sensory perception, manual dexterity, and social and emotional understanding.

• You can find generative AI models in use today, but these systems are easier to develop than artificial general intelligence. 

Explore the implications of AGI for humanity, the technologies helping scientists progress toward AGI, and some of the challenges to achieving AGI. You can also learn more about AI when you enroll in the Generative AI Fundamentals Specialization. You’ll have the opportunity to learn about AI foundation models, the limitations of generative AI, and strategies to use AI in your career.

Artificial general intelligence vs. AI 

Artificial general intelligence is a theoretical field of computer science that aims to create a computer capable of complex reasoning and problem-solving similar to or better than human intelligence. In the last few years, generative AI like ChatGPT has entered the mainstream and inspired a lot of opinions about our proximity as a society to achieving true artificial general intelligence. Although we have much to be optimistic about regarding artificial intelligence, our current capabilities fall far short of true artificial superintelligence. 

The artificial intelligence employed by companies in almost every industry today is narrow, or weak, artificial intelligence. This technology may have advanced capabilities, but it remains focused on a specific, pre-identified task or goal. For example, a robot playing chess may create a challenging opponent, but without much training, it would make a terrible solitaire player.

Strong AI, on the other hand, would have self-awareness. It would be able to plan for its future and set its own goals. It could learn how to play solitaire the way anyone else learns, modeling human intelligence but potentially surpassing it. Strong AI, or artificial superintelligence, represents a pure form of artificial general intelligence that currently only exists in science fiction. 

Even advanced AI like the kind found in a Tesla can make mistakes when presented with something unique that a human could immediately understand. For example, a Tesla on autopilot cannot determine the appropriate response when confronted with a pedestrian carrying a stop sign. It understands both a pedestrian and a stop sign from its training, but doesn’t understand that the two together mean it should still cause the car to stop. 

Is ChatGPT AI or AGI? 

ChatGPT is AI, not AGI. It’s designed to perform specific tasks like answering questions and generating text, but it doesn’t possess reasoning capabilities or the ability to generalize in the way AGI can.

Read more: How to Learn ChatGPT: A Guide to Getting Started

Artificial general intelligence vs. generative AI

Despite the incredible capabilities of generative artificial intelligence, researchers and theorists are still debating whether it marks the beginning of our understanding of artificial general intelligence. Generative AI, like ChatGPT, is a form of artificial intelligence that uses deep learning to generate text or images that appear similar to, but not the same as, the vast amount of training data scientists provide. 

ChatGPT can do incredibly complex tasks in what seems like the blink of an eye. A team of Microsoft researchers found that the performance of ChatGPT-4, one of the newest versions of the software, “can respond to audio inputs in as little as 232 milliseconds, with an average of 320 milliseconds, which is similar to human response time⁠ in a conversation” [1]. OpenAI also tested ChatGPT-4 by simulating a bar exam. ChatGPT-4 passed with a score that would place it in the top 10 percent of test-takers [2]. 

Certainly, ChatGPT can outperform humans at many tasks, such as coding or generating informative text. Yet the technology still doesn’t qualify as artificial general intelligence, not because it isn’t impressive but because of how it does what it does. ChatGPT is a predictive language model built on a massive amount of training data. When it generates an answer, it’s merely predicting the correct information to generate based on what it has learned in the past. For all its remarkable ability, ChatGPT still parrots the bias of its training data and can be prone to misinformation if given incorrect information to learn from. ChatGPT can’t plan for the future, can’t develop its own set of goals, and doesn’t exist in the real world with manual dexterity.

Generative AI vs. artificial general intelligence​: Why is generative AI easier to develop?

Generative AI is easier to develop than AGI because it focuses on narrow, task-specific rather than attempting to replicate human-level intelligence. Generative AI models are designed for specific tasks and can be trained on large sets of data. They have a defined scope and use statistical patterns to convey outputs. AGI, on the other hand, requires the ability to learn abstract concepts and adapt independently, which are capabilities that are more difficult to create within your algorithms.

How close are we to developing artificial general intelligence?

One of the factors that makes it difficult to predict how far away our technology is from developing true artificial general intelligence is the disagreement about what precisely AGI consists of and how to measure it.

In OpenAI’s definition of artificial general intelligence, AGI can perform most work that benefits the economy better than humans. But most of the work that humans do across all industries involves manual dexterity, such as preparing food or working in the construction industry. While these industries can both use artificial intelligence to operate more efficiently, we don’t have AGI advanced enough to completely replace a chef or a carpenter. 

The challenges of creating true artificial general intelligence pose problems for which we don’t yet have solutions. Some experts argue we are beginning to cross into AGI with our current capability, while others believe we are decades away from such a discovery, if such a discovery is possible. 

Challenges of creating artificial general intelligence 

Scientists have several problems to overcome before we have the sort of artificial intelligence technology we imagine in science fiction films and books. Here are a few examples of what our current AI systems need to develop to achieve artificial general intelligence: 

• Sensory perception: Although sensor technology is allowing artificial intelligence more capabilities than ever before, particularly in home automation, our technology still has a long way to go before artificial intelligence has the capacity for sensory perception that humans do. For example, if you are talking on the phone with someone, you can create a mental image of their environment based on the background noise you hear. This is beyond the capacity of our current AI systems. 

• Manual dexterity: Many common jobs require manual dexterity, and it can be difficult to program a robot hand to operate the same way a human hand operates. Would you be comfortable allowing a pair of robot arms to wash your hair, give you a physical examination, or pat you down at the airport? We may need to improve our technology before we are comfortable allowing artificial intelligence to provide services that come close to our bodies.

• Social and emotional understanding: Humans can read subtle emotional and social context clues that our current artificial intelligence isn’t capable of understanding or considering emotions when generating a response. Until artificial intelligence can humanly understand the social context of our lives, it will miss out on much-needed context about human experience.

What are the implications of AGI for humanity?

Artificial general intelligence can potentially change or eliminate many types of work that humans do, including computer programming, creating tasks, and medical research, to name a few examples. Artificial general intelligence will give us tools to increase our creativity, change education entirely, and offer personalized health care to each individual, regardless of economic status. 

Advanced general intelligence also comes with potential negative implications. For one thing, AGI could fuel an arms race worldwide where companies and governments scramble to hold the most advanced artificial intelligence technology. Many analysts say that artificial intelligence is progressing at an alarming speed already. If international pressure from our rivals spurs even faster development, the consequences of the systems could be unexpected and dangerous. For example, AGI could lead to major job displacement, accelerate economic inequality, or use methods and solutions that don't consider human safety, morality, and values. 

Outside of geopolitical peril, artificial intelligence could allow humans to use their natural brains less, which could lead to reduced cognitive abilities. We will need to use caution and regulation to ensure that scientists develop AGI responsibly. 

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