Chatbots are a waste of AI’s real potential

The biggest AI companies are racing to be the first to achieve “artificial general intelligence” (AGI):

AI systems that exhibit the flexibility and resourcefulness of human experts

with the speed and efficiency of digital computers – able to answer nearly any question or solve nearly any problem thrown its way. (Sort of like the starship computer in Star Trek.)

In recent years, many have believed that the key to getting there was to improve on

generative AI (Gen AI) systems, such as ChatGPT

. These systems create text, images, code and even videos by training on vast data sets of content produced by humans. They are broad in application yet accessible even to the most novice users of digital tools. Buoyed by the initial progress of chatbots, many thought that AGI was imminent.