Glossary
What is AGI (artificial general intelligence)?
A hypothetical AI that matches human ability across essentially all tasks — unlike today's narrow systems. It does not exist yet.
Every AI in use today is narrow: superhuman at one job — translating, labelling images, playing Go — and helpless the moment it steps outside it. AGI is the hypothetical next step: a single system that handles essentially any intellectual task a person can, and picks up brand-new ones on its own.
| Level | What it can do | Exists today? |
|---|---|---|
| Narrow AI | One domain — chess, translation, image labels | Yes — all of today's AI |
| AGI | Essentially any task a human can; learns new ones itself | No — hypothetical |
| Superintelligence | Beyond the best humans at virtually everything | No — further still |
Everything you use today sits in the top row. AGI and superintelligence are milestones we have not reached.
There's no agreed test for AGI and no agreed date — serious researchers put it anywhere from a few years to never. Reasoning models that work through problems step by step blur the line, but their jagged intelligence — brilliant on one task, baffling on a simpler one — is a sign we're not there yet.
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