Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is a type of artificial intelligence (AI) that can perform as well or better than humans on a wide range of cognitive tasks,[1] as opposed to narrow AI, which is designed for specific tasks.[2] It is one of various definitions of strong AI.
Creating AGI is a primary goal of AI research and of companies such as OpenAI,[3]DeepMind, and Anthropic. A 2020 survey identified 72 active AGI R&D projects spread across 37 countries.[4]
The timeline for AGI development remains a subject of ongoing debate among researchers and experts. As of 2023[update], some argue that it may be possible in years or decades; others maintain it might take a century or longer; and a minority believe it may never be achieved.[5] There is debate on the exact definition of AGI, and regarding whether modern large language models (LLMs) such as GPT-4 are early, incomplete forms of AGI.[6] AGI is a common topic in science fiction and futures studies.
Contention exists over the potential for AGI to pose a threat to humanity;[7] for example, OpenAI claims to treat it as an existential risk, while others find the development of AGI to be too remote to present a risk.[8][5][9]