Bling AGI

Dossier

The dossier

Three entries, in reading order: what AGI means, how capability is measured, and why a demonstration is not a deployment.

A row of server drive bays with small green indicator lights
Photo: Domaintechnik / Unsplash

  1. What people mean by AGI, and why they disagree

    AGI usually means an AI system that can do a wide range of tasks at least as well as people, rather than one narrow task. But there is no agreed definition or test. Some definitions focus on economic work, some on human-like learning, and some on graded levels of capability, so two people can disagree about whether AGI exists while looking at the same system.

  2. How to read an AI benchmark claim

    A benchmark score shows how a system performed on one fixed set of tasks, under specific conditions, at one time. Before trusting it, check what the test measures, what the score is compared against, how the test was run, whether the test data could have leaked into training, and whether anyone independent got the same result.

  3. Demo vs deployment: what a showcase can't tell you

    A demo shows that something can happen, under conditions the presenter chose. Deployment shows how often it happens, for ordinary users, on inputs nobody picked in advance. To judge an AI claim, ask how the demo was made, how often it succeeds, and whether people outside the company can try it.