Eric Schmidt and Selina Xu
Mr. Schmidt is the chief executive of Relativity Space and a former chief executive of Google. Ms. Xu is a China and technology analyst.
Building a machine more intelligent than ourselves. It’s a centuries-old theme, inspiring equal amounts of awe and dread, from the agents in “The Matrix” to the operating system in “Her.”
To many in Silicon Valley, this compelling fictional motif is on the verge of becoming reality. Reaching artificial general intelligence, or A.G.I. (or going a step further, superintelligence), is now the singular aim of America’s tech giants, which are investing tens of billions of dollars in a fevered race. And while some experts warn of disastrous consequences from the advent of A.G.I., many also argue that this breakthrough, perhaps just years away, will lead to a productivity explosion, with the nation and company that get there first reaping all the benefits.
This frenzy gives us pause.
It is uncertain how soon artificial general intelligence can be achieved. We worry that Silicon Valley has grown so enamored with accomplishing this goal that it’s alienating the general public and, worse, bypassing crucial opportunities to use the technology that already exists. In being solely fixated on this objective, our nation risks falling behind China, which is far less concerned with creating A.I. powerful enough to surpass humans and much more focused on using the technology we have now.
The roots of Silicon Valley’s fascination with artificial general intelligence go back decades. In 1950 the computing pioneer Alan Turing proposed the imitation game, a test in which a machine proves its intelligence by how well it can fool human interrogators into believing it’s human. In the years since, the idea has evolved, but the goal has stayed constant: to match the power of a human brain. A.G.I. is simply the latest iteration.
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