What is AI?

Say you are walking on the street. You stop someone walking towards you and ask him, “What is AI?” One of three images will pop up in his head:

A. He has no idea what AI is.

B. ChatGPT.

C. Terminator (Credit: WIRED)

     Are you A, B, or C? Given how popular AI is, it’s surprising that many people still don’t have a deeper understanding of what it is. I often pass by someone on the street saying, “ChatGPT said that I should break up with my boyfriend” or some tidbit about how AI changed their life. But if I stop this person and ask her, “How does ChatGPT work? Why did ChatGPT say that to you?”, I will likely draw a blank stare.

     Many want to learn about AI but don’t know where to begin. I was certainly in this position when I started. This post will give you a quick, nontechnical introduction to AI. I hope it will provide a starting point for your adventures into this fascinating technology. If you want to dig deeper, I’ve provided links at the bottom to more detailed introductions.

     So what is AI? AI stands for artificial intelligence. When parents tell their kids that they’re intelligent, they mean that their kids learn fast and understand deeply. They can learn new words and understand books. When they’re older they can learn to drive a car and understand the tax system. There is almost no limit to what a human can learn and understand. This is human intelligence. When a computer program can learn and understand some or all of what humans can understand, we say that the program is artificially intelligent.

     Artificial intelligence is a field in computer science that studies the properties of these programs and invents new programs that are more intelligent and less prone to errors. The fruits of these efforts are programs such as ChatGPT and AlphaGo. By training these programs (teaching them what to do) they have learned a handful of tasks. ChatGPT can write and answer questions. AlphaGo can play go. But that’s about it. ChatGPT can’t drive a car; AlphaGo can’t play hockey. In fact, it is downright impossible for them to learn tasks that deviate too much from what they were designed for. Humans, on the other hand, can learn almost anything. 

     What if we create a program that can learn anything a human can? Think about the implications: Every human achievement that made us proud as a species, everything that we believed only we could do, this program will be able to learn to do. If such a program could be created, it would be the first example of an AGI – an artificial general intelligence. In contrast, the current AI programs are narrow AI, in that they can only do a fraction of what we can do.

     Many AI scientists want to create AGI. AGI is the goal of companies such as OpenAI and Google DeepMind as well as much of the field of artificial intelligence itself. Why do so many smart people want to create AGI? Why is it worth pursuing?

     When we create an AGI, we will essentially be creating a mind. This AGI will be able to think; that’s why I call it a mind. This mind will be as smart as us, maybe even smarter. Given that the most wonderful achievements and creations of humankind start their existence as an idea in a human mind, AGI might come up with even better ideas that lead to even more impressive creations and achievements because it may be smarter than a human mind. A large percentage of our future achievements, be it scientific and technological progress or artistic breakthroughs, might trace their lineage back to the mind of this AGI.

     The impacts of AGI can be both good and bad. On the one hand AGI could cure diseases and solve climate change. On the other hand it could displace jobs and create a “useless class” composed of people who cannot get a job no matter how hard they try [1].

     As young people, we will benefit the most from AGI but we will also lose the most from an automated future. How can we ensure that this technology improves our lives and increases our chances at success? How should we mitigate the risks?

     We need to have this conversation because AGI will affect us all. AGI is a general-purpose technology, which means that it will not only impact students in engineering and the sciences but also students in the social sciences and the humanities. Only by inviting everyone into the conversation can we ensure AGI benefits us all. We started this conversation at UofT by creating the Society for the Pursuit of AGI. Discussing the potential and consequences of AGI requires incorporating ideas from diverse fields as art, philosophy, mathematics, engineering, literature, psychology, neuroscience, anthropology, sociology, and more. We invite your unique interdisciplinary perspective to join us and explore the future of AGI and our place in it. The ideas we come up with will guide our efforts to develop real AI systems that work.

     We seek those with curiosity, willingness to learn, and an ability to challenge their beliefs. The road to AGI is filled with excitement and challenges. To brave these challenges we need all the help we can get. But don’t forget about the excitement. Discussing AI with students from all kinds of disciplines will be a real intellectual feast. Our potential for growth and learning is immense. We hope to see you here at the Society for the Pursuit of AGI.
 
 
Links
·      (Video) What is an AI anyway? By Mustafa Suleyman on TED. https://youtu.be/KKNCiRWd_j0?si=nAVdennzjc8Vj4cv

·      (Video) Computer Scientist Explains Machine Learning in 5 Levels of Difficulty https://youtu.be/5q87K1WaoFI?si=kfbyIHH7O_8zSCFK

·      (Video) What are Generative AI models? https://youtu.be/hfIUstzHs9A?si=No9j_Db36qJYKWsr

·      (Video) AlphaGo Documentary by Google DeepMind https://youtu.be/WXuK6gekU1Y?si=2DSGIHP0dR1fuG49

 
 
References
[1]     Harari, Yuval Noah. “The Rise of the Useless Class.” ideas.ted.com, 24 Feb. 2017, ideas.ted.com/the-rise-of-the-useless-class/.