Tech Bosses Claim Artificial General Intelligence is Already Here: Is the Narrative Moving Faster than the Science?
Introduction
Tech leaders have claimed that artificial intelligence (AI) has reached a level where it matches human intelligence. This capability, known as Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), has captured extensive media attention in recent years.
A fantastical narrative has begun to emerge around AGI’s near-term arrival. Some of the world’s major tech leaders (all winners of this year’s Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering) such as Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, Meta AI chief Yann LeCun, and computer scientists Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton, Fei-Fei Li, and Bill Dally [1], gathered at FT’s Future of AI summit and suggested that AI already demonstrates ‘equivalent intelligence’ to humans in certain domains [2]. Despite these claims, it is essential to examine the reality and limitations of AGI, and why it is attracts such intense media attention.
What is AGI?
Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is a conceptual form of AI capable of matching human cognitive abilities across multiple domains, such as problem solving and complex analysis. It differs from Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI), a theoretical form of AI that would be superior to human intellect in every aspect.
AGI would be able to perform any intellectual task a human can, including reasoning and problem solving. Most notably, an advanced AGI system would be able to go beyond the generative AI of today through autonomy: the ability to learn new skills it was not originally programmed for. In theory, this would enable breakthroughs in major fields such as science and healthcare.
AI that is as capable as human intelligence is a point of contention within the tech world. While some predict emergence within the next few years, others argue that substantial technical gaps make it decades away. Where humans have adapted via evolution to be good at solving problems, machines have not. Currently, AI learns about the world through the digital data distilled to it, and a large technical roadblock is how to provide the intuition and common sense that could match that of a human. Alongside this, the scalability of AGI is a large issue. The current environmental concerns of AI development is massive – the environmental recourses needed to scale AI to AGI would be even greater [3].
Reality vs Fantasy
Despite headlines claiming that AGI could arrive soon, true AGI does not yet exist. The natural progression of AI is often described as developing from narrow intelligence to general intelligence, and to eventually reaching the theoretical stage of ASI. Current systems, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, remain narrow AI, designed for specific tasks like language processing or predictive analytics. Consequently, many corporate jobs remain largely unaffected, as AI lacks the capability, human creativity, and credibility that humans bring to professional environments.
AGI remains out of reach largely due to a lack of learning adaptability – current AI models are taught through complicated predefined programming. This creates numerous issues for development such as limiting flexibility in new/unknown environments and fundamentally, the lack of the ability to self-generate new learning strategies. General intelligence quires a programme to discover new ways of thinking or problem-solving. Without this, AI remains at a (while extremely advanced) generative level.
Alongside this, the issue of reliability is many corporations attempting to incorporate AI, one of the most significant barriers. With reports of effective “hallucinations” in which AI creates false articles or sources alone, their credibility is severely limited in professional settings. instability is just one of the fundamental needs for human employment. Given the ongoing necessity of human oversight and decision-making in employment. Therefore, an AI-led job market remains a distant prospect.
The Impact on Business and Commerce
If AGI were to become a reality, the impact on business and commerce would be profound. The reshaping of organisational structures and the nature of everyday work would change drastically. In theory, AGI could automate not only routine tasks but also complex decision-making and creative problem-solving. This would mean that, unlike generative AI that can only complete routine tasks, AGI would make many senior, experienced jobs within businesses redundant. If AGI is able to match the expertise and intelligence of senior and experienced professionals, the unprecedented efficiency and continuous operation would become invaluable to businesses. However, the introduction of a system capable of general intelligence would also present risks. Questions around accountability and liability would pose a fundamental challenge to corporate governance structures. AGI would force businesses to reconsider the existing reliance on human judgment. The incorporations of AGI represent more than a technological shift but a fundamental restructuring of how businesses operate and make decisions.
The current issues and trends in the AI industry would affect how AGI impacts the commercial industry. Commercial competition and media narratives arguably shape the development of AI as much as genuine scientific progress. Major tech firms promote AI systems as early steps towards AGI, even if this is overselling the reality of AI. Elon Musk is a large figure in the media attention on AI, commenting that ‘AI and robots will replace all jobs.’ [4] Recent reporting reflects this disconnect for example, David Bader, the director of the institute for data science at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, warned that we need to ‘distinguish between genuine advances and marketing narratives designed to attract talent and investment’ [5]. As earlier referenced, the belief in imminent AGI is largely fuelled by marketing narratives. Public expectations continue to move faster than the science itself, contributing to discussion of AGI as a near reality despite many foundational, unsolved technical problems.
Conclusion
Despite claims from prominent tech leaders, AGI has not yet arrived. Current AI systems operate firmly within narrow intelligence, and public narrative continue to move faster than the underlying science. Nonetheless, with significant investment and ongoing research, meaningful progress towards AGI is plausible in the coming decades. AGI would almost certainly permanently alter the way businesses are run and developed. However, balancing media-driven hype with scientific reality is crucial for responsibly evaluating AI’s future. It is important to understand the commercial benefit and competition between large tech companies, in driving a media frenzy around general intelligence. AGI is not here yet and recognizing this reality is essential to evaluating AI’s future responsibly.
References
[1] Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. (2025) QEPrize Winners Modern Machine Learning. [online] Available at: https://qeprize.org/winners/modern-machine-learning [Accessed 6 Nov. 2025]
[2] Criddle C., Murgia M. and Heikkilä M. (2025) ‘AI pioneers claim human-level general intelligence is already here’, Financial Times, 6 November, Available at: https://on.ft.com/4hOknNl [Accessed: 6 November 2025]
[3] Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. (2025) QEPrize Winners Modern Machine Learning. [online] Available at: https://qeprize.org/winners/modern-machine-learning [Accessed 6 Nov. 2025]
[4] The Economist. (2025) ‘Don’t blame AI for your job woes’ [online] Available at: https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2025/11/06/dont-blame-ai-for-your-job-woes [Accessed 10 Nov. 2025]
[5] Rafalski K. (2025) ‘AGI vs ASI: Understanding the fundamental differences between Artificial General Intelligence and Artificial Super Intelligence’, Netguru, 9 September, Available at: https://www.netguru.com/blog/agi-vs-asi [Accessed: 10 November 2025]
[6] Milmo D, Kerr D. (2025) ‘“It’s missing something”: AGI, superintelligence and a race for the future’ The Guardian, 9 August, Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/aug/09/its-missing-something-agi-superintelligence-and-a-race-for-the-future [Accessed: 10 November 2025]
Image Credits: Igor Omilaev on Unsplash
