Artificial General Intelligence definition: Capabilities and examples

Artificial general intelligence (AGI) refers to a hypothetical AI that understands, learns‌ and applies knowledge across a wide range of tasks at a level equal to or beyond human capabilities. Unlike current AI, AGI would possess general cognitive abilities, enabling it to perform any intellectual task like a human.

Artificial Intelligence research wants to achieve AGI, but we still have a long way to go and it remains a big challenge. However, there are some key capabilities that AGI is expected to possess:

1 - Understanding and reasoning

AGI should be able to comprehend complex concepts, reason logically and make informed decisions based on available data.

2 - Learning and adaptation

AGI should have the ability to learn from experience and adapt to new situations, improving its performance over time without explicit programming.

3 - Emotional intelligence

AGI should be able to understand and respond appropriately to human emotions, as well as exhibit some form of emotional intelligence itself.

4 - Generalisation

AGI should be able to apply knowledge and skills learned in one domain to other, unrelated domains.

5 - Self-awareness and consciousness

While controversial, some argue that AGI should have a sense of self and consciousness, similar to humans.

6 - Creativity

AGI should be able to generate novel ideas, art‌ or solutions, demonstrating a level of creativity comparable to humans.

While AGI systems aren't available yet, there are several examples of AI applications that demonstrate progress towards certain capabilities associated with AGI. 👇

1 - Self-driving cars

Companies like Tesla and Waymo‌ are developing autonomous vehicles that can navigate complex environments, make real-time decisions and adapt to changing conditions.

While these systems are not yet fully autonomous, they showcase advancements in perception, decision-making‌ and learning.

2 - Personal assistant systems

Virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant can understand and respond to natural language questions, perform tasks and learn user preferences over time. These systems exhibit elements of natural language processing, context awareness‌ and adaptive learning.

3 - Help in healthcare

AI-powered diagnostic tools, such as those used in radiology and pathology, can analyse medical images to detect diseases and abnormalities. These systems demonstrate advanced pattern recognition and decision-making capabilities, aiding healthcare professionals in their work.

4 - Creativity in art and music

AI systems like AIVA (Artificial Intelligence Virtual Artist) for music composition and DeepArt for visual art generation showcase the ability to create original content. These applications highlight AI's potential for creativity and innovation, mimicking human artistic expression.

5 - Game-playing AI

Systems like AlphaGo and AlphaZero, developed by DeepMind, have achieved superhuman performance in complex games like Go and chess. These AI models demonstrate advanced strategic thinking, learning and adaptation, which are key components of AGI.