As with every civilization-changing invention and discovery the emergence and development of AGI does and will raise many ethical, safety, and societal concerns, as it is AGI that has the power to overcome humans.
As with every civilization-changing invention and discovery the emergence and development of AGI does and will raise many ethical, safety, and societal concerns, as it is AGI that has the power to overcome humans.
AI Is About To Become Smarter Than Us Humans
by Eli Amdur
https://www.forbes.com/sites/eliamdur/2025/03/19/ai-is-about-to-become-smarter-than-us-humans/
In Biblical times, we’d have looked at AI’s progress and said to each other, “Prepare for your judgment day.”
Or maybe we’d have had to build an ark.
Nearly 300 years ago, King Louis XV of France threw his hands in the air (figuratively) and proclaimed “Après moi, le déluge” (‘After me, the flood’).
Seventy-five years ago, in the book and then the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey we’d hear the computer – HAL 9000 – say, “I’m sorry, Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
These scenarios have one thing in common: Doom. Doomsday. Despair. Helplessness. Hopelessness. Something bigger and more powerful than us finally and forever overtaking us, subjugating us. They’ve come up through history as predictably as the ages, and now we have the latest: AGI, or Artificial General Intelligence. Not only are we still in the process of coming to terms with AI as a permanent and irrefutable part of our lives; we are witnessing what I and many others have been saying all along, at least five years ago in a specific way and 10 years ago more vaguely. (I wrote my first article and gave my first talk on AI in April 2015.) AI, I said, would advance with blinding speed, the speed of light, so to speak. Nothing’s changed, other than exponentially.) So, now that we’re still nowhere near in control of AI (at least, on a global communal basis), here comes AGI.
What is AGI?
Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) isa type of AI that can understand, learn, and apply intelligence across a wide range of tasks at a level comparable – or superior – to human cognition. Unlike narrow or specialized AI that is designed to perform specific tasks (like playing chess, navigating drones, recognizing images, and so on), AGI will perform any intellectual task that a human can do, such as reasoning, problem-solving, debating, speculating, understanding language, and learning from experience. It is AGI – that big, bad, as-yet-unseen monster in the forest – which we have feared all along. Now, while we are getting our first glimpse, we should remember that AGI has as much upside as danger points, if not more, and – like with anything else, it will depend on how and for what we use it.
Key Characteristics and Capabilities of AGI
As we hurtle into the future, the following short nod will come to fill our conversations, reports, and everything else. But for starters:
Adaptability
Think creatively, learn new skills, and adapt to new environments and situations.
A long-held and never disputed trait of intelligence is the ability to function successfully in novel situations.
Generalization
Transfer knowledge from one domain to another, much like humans do. Think deductively and inductively.
Autonomy
Make decisions and take actions on its own, without needing constant guidance or retraining. Identify and solve problems that have not been posed to it, but that it knows are there.
Conclusion (for now)
As with every civilization-changing invention and discovery the emergence and development of AGI does and will raise many ethical, safety, and societal concerns, as it is AGI that has the power to overcome humans.