From Narrow to General Artificial Intelligence (AGI)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all around us these days, making our lives easier and more convenient. From virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa to recommendation systems on your favorite streaming platforms, AI is part of modern technology.

But did you know that not all AI is the same? From the current state of AI to the objective of building computers with human-like intelligence, there is an interesting path to be taken. Let’s explore and learn about Narrow AI (Weak AI) and Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

Narrow AI

Artificial Intelligence is in a state of constant progression. Today’s AI is known as Narrow AI or Weak AI. This kind of AI is smart in a very specific way. It’s only smart about one thing. It’s good at specific tasks but doesn’t understand the bigger picture or learn new things easily.

Examples of Narrow AI

Narrow AI is everywhere, even if you don’t always notice it. Some examples include:

• Virtual Personal Assistants: Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant. They’re great at answering your questions and setting alarms. While their current capabilities are impressive, there’s still room for growth and innovation in expanding their utility to more complex tasks and applications.
• Recommendation Systems: Think about how Netflix suggests what you should watch next or how Amazon recommends products you might like. That’s Narrow AI at work.
• Image and Speech Recognition: When you upload a picture to Facebook, it automatically tags your friends, that’s Narrow AI recognizing faces. Or when you talk to your phone, and it turns your words into text, that’s Narrow AI understanding your speech.

Technology Behind Narrow AI

Narrow AI is made possible by a technology called Machine Learning. It’s like teaching a computer to recognize patterns. You show lots of examples, and it figures out how to do things based on those examples. Deep Learning is a special type of Machine Learning that’s become incredibly popular. It’s inspired by how our brains work and use something called neural networks.

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)

This is the kind of AI that’s as smart as humans in many different ways. The key difference with AGI is adaptability. While Siri is your language expert and photo sorting tool is your image guru, AGI would be an all-in-one wizard. It could understand language, learn from experience, and solve problems across various domains, just like a human.

Think about it — we’re trying to make machines think and learn like humans. We have to teach them to understand language, recognize objects, and have common sense. We need them to adapt to new situations, think creatively, and make decisions in unpredictable scenarios. It’s like teaching a computer to be human, and that’s no easy task! It’s not just about coding; it’s about giving machines the ability to learn and reason on their own.

General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), which exhibits human-like intelligence across a wide range of tasks, does not yet exist. AI systems that are in use today, including advanced machine learning and deep learning models, are considered Narrow AI or Weak AI. These systems are specialized and excel at specific tasks but lack the broad and flexible cognitive abilities associated with human intelligence.

While there have been significant advancements in AI, particularly in areas like natural language processing, computer vision, and reinforcement learning, achieving true General AI remains an ongoing challenge. General AI would require machines to exhibit a level of adaptability, learning, and reasoning across a wide range of tasks, akin to human intelligence. Researchers and engineers are actively working on various aspects of AI to make progress toward this goal, but as of now, AGI has not been realized.

Originally published at https://coexistencewithai.substack.com.