Creating an Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is the ultimate endpoint for many AI specialists.  An AGI agent could be leveraged to tackle a myriad of the world’s problems. For instance, you could introduce a problem to an AGI agent and the AGI could use deep reinforcement learning combined with its newly introduced emergent consciousness to make real-life decisions.

The difference between an AGI and a regular algorithm is the ability for the AGI to ask itself the important questions. An AGI can formulate the end solution that it wishes to arrive at, simulate hypothetical ways of getting there, and then make an informed decision on which simulated reality best matches the goals that were set.

The debate on how an AGI can emerge has been around since the term “artificial intelligence” was first introduced at the Dartmouth conference in 1956. Since then many companies have attempted to tackle the AGI challenge, OpenAI is probably the most recognized company. OpenAI was launched as a non-profit on December 11, 2015 with its mission statement being to ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI)—by which we mean highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at most economically valuable work—benefits all of humanity.

The OpenAI mission statement clearly outlines the potential gains that an AGI can offer society. Suddenly issues which were too sophisticated for humans and regular AI systems, are now able to be tackled.

The potential benefits of releasing an AGI are astronomical. You could state a goal of curing all forms of cancer, the AGI could then connect itself to the internet to scan all the current research in every language. The AGI can initiate the problem of formulating solutions, and then simulate all potential outcomes. It would be connecting the benefits of consciousness that currently humans possess, with the infinite knowledge of the cloud, use deep learning for pattern recognition of this big data, and use reinforcement learning to simulate different environments/outcomes. All of this combined with a consciousness that never requires a rest period and can be 100% focused on the task at hand.

The potential downsides of AGI of course cannot be understated, you can have an AGI which has the goal of continuously upgrading itself and could then swallow everything in its path in order to maximize the computing resources and atoms that it needs to forever upgrade its system. This theory was explored in detail by Professor Nick Bostrom in the Paperclip Maximizer argument, in this scenario a misconfigured AGI is instructed to produce paperclips and does so until nothing is left, literally every resource on earth has been consumed to maximize the production of paperclips.

A more pragmatic viewpoint is that an AGI could be controlled by a rogue state or a corporation with poor ethics. This entity could program the AGI to maximize profits, and in this case with poor programming and zero remorse it could choose to bankrupt competitors, destroy supply chains, hack the stock market, liquidate bank accounts, etc.

Therefore, a code of ethics needs to be programmed in an AGI from the onset. A code of ethics has been debated by many minds and the concept was first introduced to the general population in the form of the 3 laws of robotics by author Isaac Asimov.

There are some problems with the 3 laws of robotics as the laws can be interpreted in different ways. We previously discussed programming ethics into an AGI, in our interview with Charles J. Simon, Author of Will Computers Revolt?

April 7, 2020, is the day that Brain Simulator II was released to the public. This version of the brain simulator enables experimentation into diverse AI algorithms to create an end-to-end AGI system with modules for vision, hearing, robotic control, learning, internal modeling, and even planning, imagination, and forethought.

“New, unique algorithms that directly address cognition are the key to helping AI evolve into AGI,” Simon explains.

“Brain Simulator II combines vision and touch into a single mental model and is making progress toward the comprehension of causality and the passage of time,” Simon notes. “As the modules are enhanced, progressively more intelligence will emerge.”

Brain Simulator II bridged Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and Symbolic AI techniques to create new possibilities. It creates an array of millions of neurons interconnected by any number of synapses.

This enables various entities to research possibilities for AGI development.

Anyone interested in Brain Simulator II can follow along or participate in the development process by downloading the software, suggesting new features, and (for advanced developers) even adding custom modules. You can also follow its creator Charles Simon on Twitter.

In the meantime, society has been recently disrupted with the COVID-19 virus. Had we an AGI system in place we could have used this AGI to quickly identify how to stop the spread of COVID-19, and more importantly how to treat COVID-19 patients. While it may be too late for an AGI to help with this outbreak, in future outbreaks an AGI could be the best tool in our arsenal.

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Recently I was asked by my company to develop a presentation for staff on the origins, present state and plausible future outcomes for artificial intelligence. This is in keeping with my position as the global lead for our AI Center of Excellence. And that process led to an exploration of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), when it might arrive and the implications for better or worse.

New artificial intelligence capabilities appear every day. In a single day just recently, an avid reader would have found articles about how AI might one day help us to predict earthquakes, how wearable AI will amplify human intelligence, how the technology is being used to create new alloys for 3D printing, how it is changing agriculture, and more. On that day, there were at least a dozen such headlines about how AI is transforming industry and society.

All this stems from “narrow” AI, algorithms that, while powerful, are only able to do one thing, such as play chess, determine the probability that an oil drill bit is about to fail, or more intelligently route calls to service center agents.

While narrow AI applications certainly appear intelligent, their functionality is limited to their specific programming.  For example, if you ask an AI-powered digital assistant to turn on the lights, the natural language processing algorithm identifies certain keywords such as “lights” and “on” and then responds by turning on the lights. That may appear to be a human-like intelligence, but these systems are only responding to programming. At the end of the day, the digital assistant doesn’t understand what is being said in the way that a person does. In the same way, a chess-playing AI can’t recognize images or direct you from point A to point B.

The goal has long been to develop AI to the point where the machine’s intellectual capability is functionally equivalent to a human — that it learns and thinks much as person. This is artificial general intelligence. AGI does not yet exist, even though this is what was discussed 63 years ago at the famous Dartmouth conference where the term artificial intelligence was originated. As stated in a Smithsonian article, “What the scientists were talking about in their sylvan hideaway was how to build a machine that could think.”

AGI is vastly different from AI today insofar as it will take on more human-like characteristics and can transfer knowledge from one domain to another as needed. In other words, AGI will be able to make connections and learn how to learn, to generalize and acquire new skills the way humans do. In theory, this could lead to an AGI that could carry out any task a human could. This is widely thought of as the Holy Grail in AI. At the very least, an AGI would be able to combine human-like thinking with the mind-boggling speed of computers, leading to advantages such as near-instant recall and millisecond number crunching.

Much like our inability to fully understand how the brain operates, the complexity of developing this technology remains beyond our grasp. There are AI experts who don’t believe AGI will ever be achieved, or at least not for another hundred years or more. Nevertheless, a survey of these experts revealed a median estimate for AGI of 2040. That’s only a single generation into the future.

Many companies are working towards AGI. For example, there are claims that that DeepMind, a division of Google parent Alphabet, has already developed an early form though there are no current meaningful examples in widespread use. At Google I/O, Google’s AI lead, Jeff Dean, stated that they are looking at “AI that can work across disciplines.” Will it really take Google or DeepMind or another 20 years or more to develop AGI, or might this be much closer than predicted?

As with all technology, AI arises from the human mind and our collective knowledge. Yet, much of human invention comes from moments of insight, unexpected illumination, enlightenment, genius and even serendipity. While incremental gains may ultimately lead to AGI, it’s the unexpected path that will likely lead to an AGI breakthrough, and the timeline is entirely unpredictable.

Once AGI exists, what happens to humans? The thought of creating consciousness and advanced intelligence has long been the stuff of nightmares, from Frankenstein to HAL 9000 and the Terminator. As explained by neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris, there is an implicit existential danger in such a development. In his TED Talk, he describes how AGI is surely inevitable and that while we may view this as cool, we should be scared.

Harris adds that the AGI future depicted in science fiction movies such as Ex Machina is often seen as fun, engaging, escapist and entertaining. In his view, however, when these plots become real life, the gains we will make with intelligent machines could ultimately destroy us. He warns that we are so far unable to marshal an appropriate emotional response to the dangers ahead. In effect, he says that we are transfixed, like moths drawn to a flame, fascinated by the curious light without thought to the implications of our actions. If, as The New Yorker asks, the arc of the universe bends toward an intelligence sufficient to understand it, will an AGI be the solution, or the end of the [human] experiment?

While AGI may not be far into the future, there are those who disagree. Rodney Brooks, roboticist and co-founder of iRobot, believes this won’t be seen until the year 2300. In arguing that AGI has been delayed, his view is “if AGI is a long way off then we cannot say anything sensible today about what promises or threats it might provide as we need to completely re-engineer our world long before it shows up, and it when it does show up it will be in a world that we cannot yet predict.” There are also those who think AGI will take a different form, that narrow AI will continue to be developed to the point where the collection of algorithms forms Comprehensive AI Services (CAIS) to the point where they will resemble a general intelligence.

Is our species destined for transhumanism? 

Ultimately, there’s no way of knowing just when AGI will appear or in what manner. It could take until 2300 or could happen tomorrow with some yet unannounced and seemingly miraculous achievement. One thing that everyone seems to agree upon is the inherent risk to humanity.

That has led Elon Musk to found Neuralink, with plans for an electrode-to-neuron-based brain-computer interface. Juniper Research believes these Brain Machine Interfaces — devices that connect computers to the brain — will reach 25.6 million by 2030. Neuralink is hoping to one day build a device with AI that people could access with their thoughts, and ultimately achieve a symbiosis with AI. He has said this would allow humans to reach higher levels of cognition and give them a better shot at competing against AGI. The result will be the next generation of humans, the transhuman. Or perhaps The Borg. In other words, if you can’t beat them, join them.

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In today’s society, it can be hard to operate without relying on technology one way or another. Electronics have become an essential part of our daily operations. It seems we all use technology for productivity and communication.

Can you imagine what would happen if we all stopped relying on technology all of a sudden? The world would be chaos at first, which further proves how much society depends on technological innovation.

One of these innovations revolves around artificial intelligence (AI). Though it used to only be in science fiction novels, AI is now a true venture for many businesses of today, including my own. In addition, much research is also being done regarding artificial general intelligence (AGI, or general AI), which is a more specific branch.

A Lot Of Research And Development Still Needs To Be Done

Before we dive too deep into AI, it’s important to note that this is still a new field of research. Scientists and AI experts everywhere are still developing the best programs and innovations they can think of. It might be a long time before we reach the “end” of AI development.

The good news is that many businesses are taking advantage of the developments already made. As a matter of fact, 72% of business leadersconsider AI development as an essential part of their business’s future success.

Since the subject is still new, some definitions are still fluid to an extent. When we talk about AI, for example, many experts would include AGI in the category of AI. Others, though, would claim there is a distinct difference.

It might be easy to think about AI as a broad field, while AGI is a more specific focus within it. General AI applies some of the same concepts, even. Below are the two distinctly separate definitions that the industry has come to generally accept.

AI Is Based On Human Cognition

Many would argue that AI itself is centered around performing cognitive tasks that every human can perform. These tasks include things like predictive marketing or complex calculations. Sure, a human could perform them, but allowing machine learning to sift through data on our behalf saves us valuable thinking power.

In fact, many businesses are starting to incorporate AI innovations. What’s one of the top reasons they’re now considering the technology? Well, most of them agree that possibilities in marketing could be perfect for AI technology.

AI, in essence, is designed to make life easier for humans in their daily lives. This design is programmed to be useful from the outset.

In other words, AI functions are preprogrammed beforehand. The “decisions” machine learning makes are logical ones based on empirical data. The goal of general AI, though, is to take these decisions a step further.

General AI Is Based On Human Intellectual Ability

General AI might be considered to fall under the umbrella of AI as a whole. It’s sometimes referred to as strong AI or strict AI. That’s because general AI expects the machine to be equally as smart as a human.

General AI would expect a machine to perform functions that are now only seen in science fiction robots. We don’t have a machine available, for example, that could walk into a home and do laundry for the entire household.

The number of decisions and intellectual energy require are still too far-fetched. Sure, a machine might be able to locate laundry baskets and sort the clothes by color. What about random clothing items that were thrown around a teenage boy’s untidy room, though? Or, how would the machine know which items are only for dry-cleaning? Some decisions that humans take for granted would overwhelm a simple machine’s mind.

Another case would be a decision in which “human instinct” comes into play. For example, sometimes we go with our “gut” to determine which food product to purchase at the store. A machine might not care about a brand name as much as the lowest priced item.

In other words, if it can’t be directly programmed into a machine, odds are that it won’t be able to make heavy intellectual decisions. This ability still is reserved for the part within all of us that is “human.”

Don’t Forget About Superintelligence

There is yet another category under AI as a whole that might be of interest. This would be “superintelligence,” which is also only a part of science fiction still.

Such superintelligence is more of a general fear of those who don’t fully understand the limits of real AI technology. These people are concerned that AI could someday surpass all human intelligence. While it makes for a great adventure movie, superintelligence is not at present a realistic concern for experts.

How Can AI Or General AI Benefit Businesses Today?

As mentioned above, many business leaders are starting to appreciate the possible applications of AI. Since the field is still fresh, no one knows just to what extent those applications could assist us.

Humanity has always been optimizing and automating business operations to reduce corporations’ bottom lines. As this displacement of the workforce might be frightening, it still opens up endless productive possibilities for everyone.

Technology and innovation deserve to be given a fighting chance to truly benefit humanity. A solid understanding of AI is beneficial for all professionals these days. Some professionals dedicated to AI and its progress continue to push for the spread of this exciting technology.

Stay Informed About Technology And AI Innovations

Such a broad field of research deserves to be thoroughly explored for the benefit of humanity. All kinds of perspectives and expertise could expand the possibilities of general AI innovation. It’s important to stay informed and updated on the progress so you don’t get left behind in the modern business world.

Continue researching and learning about AI and technology. The potential applications of the field might end up benefiting your ventures someday.

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