Senior executives from major AI organizations including OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Cohere, gathered at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos this year, to discuss the imminent approach of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
One CEO claimed that AGI will be “better than humans at pretty much whatever humans can do.”
CNBC reported that execs from some of the world’s leading artificial intelligence labs are expecting a form of AI on a par with, or even exceeding, human intelligence to arrive sometime in the near future.
Breitbart reports: This form of AI, equating to or surpassing human intellect, is a source of both enthusiasm and concern within the AI community.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, suggested during the panel at the World Economic Forum that AGI could become a reality in the “reasonably close-ish future.” However, Altman downplayed the fears of AGI drastically reshaping the world, stating: “It will change the world much less than we all think, and it will change jobs much less than we all think.” Previously, Altman had expressed concerns about AI being used for disinformation and cyberattacks, saying, “I think people should be happy that we are a little bit scared of this.”
Aidan Gomez, CEO and co-founder of Cohere, agreed with Altman on the near-term arrival of AGI but emphasized its vague definition. “First off, AGI is a super vaguely defined term. If we just term it as ‘better than humans at pretty much whatever humans can do,’ I agree, it’s going to be pretty soon that we can get systems that do that,” Gomez said, adding that while adoption in companies might take decades, Cohere is focused on making these systems more adaptable and efficient.
Lila Ibrahim, chief operating officer of Google’s DeepMind, highlighted the uncertainty around AGI’s definition and timeline. “The reality is no one knows,” she stated. “There’s a debate within the AI experts who’ve been doing this or a long time both within the industry and also within the organization.”
She continued: “We’re already seeing areas where AI has the ability to unlock our understanding … where humans haven’t been able to make that type of progress. So it’s AI in partnership with the human, or as a tool.”