May AI Reality Check: Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), Real or Hype?

A key part of the mission of big AI labs, like OpenAI and Anthropic, is the goal of achieving Artificial General Intelligence, which loosely means AI that can think at least at the level of humans. The idea of machines that can truly ’think’ makes many nervous, as we’ve all seen the movies about killer robots and AI out of control. So, is this something we should worry about?

As contractors and trade professionals, the short answer is no. There are too many other issues with AI that will really matter in 2025 and 2026, and “AGI” is a distraction. Let the podcasters spend time on it for now. Here’s why:

• AGI isn’t understood: We don’t have a definition for what this even means. A “human level intelligence” can mean a wide range of capabilities, and it is very unlikely AI will cover all that a human can within the next 2 years
• AI Tools are coming fast: from ChatGPT to Microsoft Co-Pilot to Procore, there are plenty of tools in the hands of workers right now, that can open up new opportunities while they create new threats. Better to focus on what we know is here and coming.
• AI Adoption is happening: like mobile before it, AI adoption is happening at the individual level as much as the company level. A new hire going rogue with AI generated documents is a bigger concern than a killer AI taking over. 

In summary, there are plenty of day-to-day aspects of AI that deserve your attention. The possible threat of AGI, or even AI super intelligence, is something you can put on the back burner for now.

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