Artificial General Intelligence

Artificial General Intelligence

Context: The term is in news in recent times due to Open AI’s CEO Sam Altman who was removed and later brought back to the fold.

Background:
• Reports suggest that Q* (which is OpenAI’s breakthrough project) has successfully developed a new model which was able to solve certain mathematical problems.
• It is significant discovery if true as at the moment Generative AI is good at writing and predicting the next word, answering questions with varied answers. But, conquering the ability to do math where there is only right answer implies AI would have greater reasoning capabilities resembling human intelligence.

What is Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)?
• Open AI defines AGI as autonomous systems that surpass humans in most economically valuable tasks.
• It’s also known as strong AI, full AI, or human-level AI.

Key characteristics of AGI:
• Human-like Cognition: AGI would have a human level of cognitive function, including the ability to selfteach. It would be able to autonomously solve a variety of complex problems across different domains of knowledge.
• Learning and Adaptability: AGI could learn to solve new problems that they didn’t know about at the time of their creation. It would need self-awareness and consciousness, so it could solve problems, adapt to its surroundings and perform a broader range of tasks.
• Versatility: Unlike weak AI (or narrow AI), swhich are able to perform only specific or specialized tasks within a predefined set of parameters, AGI would be able to perform any intellectual task.

How close are we to achieving AGI?
• Demis Hassabis, the CEO of Google’s DeepMind, an Alphabet company, has suggested that AGI might be developed 'within a decade'.

How will AGI impact society?
• Improvement in Productivity and Decision Making: AGI can lead to improvements in productivity and decision making. It can augment and streamline many human activities, take over repetitive manufacturing processes, perform routine tasks involving language and pattern recognition, and assist in medical diagnoses and treatment.
• Economic Impact: AGI could potentially revolutionize the economy. It could drastically cut down on the reliance on the human workforce, meaning revenues will go to fewer people. This could exacerbate economic inequality.
• Job Displacement: AGI could lead to job displacement. As AGI takes over both physical and cognitive tasks, it could lead to increased unemployment.
• Privacy and Security Concerns: AGI could pose privacy risks. With the ability to process and analyze large amounts of data, there could be concerns about how this data is used and who has access to it. There are also safety risks associated with AGI, particularly if it becomes more advanced than human intelligence.
• Development of New Technologies: AGI could spur the development of new technologies that could lead to new forms of warfare or other means of aggression.
• Societal Transformation: AGI is expected to bring about a transformative impact on society. It could revolutionize the ease with which people from all over the world can access knowledge, credit, and other benefits of contemporary global society

What are some of the ethical implications of developing AGI?
• Privacy and Surveillance: AGI can collect, analyze, and use personal data in ways that may infringe on individual rights and freedoms. It’s crucial to ensure that AGI systems respect privacy and do not misuse personal data.
• Bias and Discrimination: AGI can reflect and amplify human biases and prejudices, leading to unfair and harmful outcomes for some groups or individuals. It’s important to develop AGI systems that are fair and do not perpetuate existing biases.
• Reliability: AGI can malfunction or be manipulated, causing errors or harms that may be difficult to detect or correct. Ensuring the reliability and robustness of AGI systems is a key ethical concern.
• Human Judgment: AGI can replace or influence human decision-making, raising questions about the value and responsibility of human agency. The development of AGI should not undermine the importance of human judgment and decision-making.
• Conflict with Human Values: If AGI is left unchecked, machines may make decisions that conflict with human values, morals, and interests. Researchers must train the system to prioritize human life, understand and explain moral behavior, and respect individual rights and privacy