AI Magazine August 2023 | Page 103

AGI

“ The minute that that arm gripped that yellow ball , it reminded me of my son Ali , when he managed to put the first puzzle piece in its place ” he says .

Naturally sceptical , believing it to be a fluke , Gawdat went about the facility glibly proclaiming that the millions of dollars spent on the project had finally culminated in - the lifting of a single yellow ball . And then he was stunned .

The very next day , Gawdat discovered that all the grippers in the farm had taught themselves how to pick the objects up .

This incident , he says , sparked a revelation the moment he realised that the machine “ had figured out the solution on its own ”, and that this ability to self-teach - this AI-autodidacticism - is an expression of sentience that defies conventional expectations .

Gawdat underscores the complexity of tasks that humans often take for granted . Crossing a street or understanding spoken words require intricate calculations , muscle coordination , and an abundance of intelligence that we undervalue because the actions are so familiar to us that they take on an air of banality . But in fact , the mathematical calculations involved in these are astonishing . Gawdat says that his awareness of the epoch-making significance of the yellow ball experiment was the critical moment that made him leave Google X .

AI , says Gawdat , has the potential to not only replicate these ( hitherto , very human ) capabilities - but to surpass them .

Achieving artificial general intelligence : fact or fiction ? But the question that most people have on their minds is : Will AI ever achieve true AGI in its near-exponential growth in computational power ? There are problems in answering this monumental question .

MO GAWDAT AI EXPERT , GOOGLE X CHIEF BUSINESS OFFICER The mineral rover is a learning prototype - it ' s using breakthroughs in AI , sensors and robotics to find new ways to grow more food more sustainably

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