Artificial general intelligence

Artificial general intelligence (AGI), also called "strong AI," refers to a theoretical form of AI that can solve any cognitive or human task using methods beyond how it was trained. If AGI were to be developed, it would have intelligence equal to humans—it would be self-aware, with the ability to solve problems, learn, and plan for the future. AGI represents a generalized form of human cognitive abilities in software, such that it could find solutions to unfamiliar tasks, applying logic to a situation rather than an algorithm or coded process. AGI is beyond existing AI systems. Current AI agents can perform many tasks, but they are not classified as general intelligence as they cannot perform tasks at human levels beyond their specific training.

Definitions of AGI can vary among experts in the field due to the difficulty of defining human intelligence. Computer scientists might define human intelligence in terms of being able to achieve goals, while psychologists may define it in terms of adaptability or survival. Although the theoretical performance of an AGI system would be indistinguishable from that of a human, its broad intellectual capacities would exceed humans due to its ability to access and process huge data sets at incredible speeds.

AI research dates back to the mid-1950s, but the phrase "artificial general intelligence" was likely first used by researcher Mark Gubrud in a 1997 article on the future of technology and its potential risks. In the article, Gubrud offered an explanation for the phrase:

By advanced artificial general intelligence, I mean AI systems that rival or surpass the human brain in complexity and speed, that can acquire, manipulate and reason with general knowledge, and that are usable in essentially any phase of industrial or military operations where a human intelligence would otherwise be needed. Such systems may be modeled on the human brain, but they do not necessarily have to be, and they do not have to be "conscious" or possess any other competence that is not strictly relevant to their application. What matters is that such systems can be used to replace human brains in tasks ranging from organizing and running a mine or a factory to piloting an airplane, analyzing intelligence data or planning a battle.

The phrase AGI grew in popularity due to a 2005 book titled Artificial General Intelligence by Ben Goertzel and Cassio Pennachin. Prior to that, the phrase strong AI had been introduced by John Searle in his 1980 paper "Minds, Brains, and Programs." As part of his Chinese room argument, Searle introduced a distinction between two different AI hypotheses—weak AI and strong AI.