Do you remember how, just a year or so ago, not many people were talking about — let alone using — artificial intelligence (AI)? Now it is commonplace, and it is revolutionizing the workplace. But we haven’t seen anything yet! The next evolution of AI, called Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is almost here. Some expect the technology to arrive within two years. And it is going to improve our lives in so many unimaginable ways.
How is AGI different from AI? Unlike current Artificial Intelligence, which specializes in narrow tasks, AGI represents a form of intelligence capable of performing any cognitive function that a human can, with the added potential of exceeding human intellectual capacities. As AGI becomes a reality, we will witness profound changes in how we approach work, relationships, global challenges, and even the very way we define ourselves. I’ve looked into it, and here are just five key areas I think AGI is going to make our lives and society better: labor and productivity, healthcare, education, global problem-solving, and our understanding of human identity.
The Redefinition of Work and Productivity
One of the most immediate and visible effects of AGI will be in the realm of work. As AGI systems gain the capacity to perform complex intellectual tasks, they will significantly alter the structure of the workforce. Today, much of AI’s contribution lies in automating routine, repetitive tasks, but AGI’s cognitive flexibility means that even high-level decision-making, creative processes, and scientific inquiry could be automated. AGI will likely outperform humans in fields such as legal analysis, medical diagnostics, and even artistic creation. This will lead to both immense gains in productivity and, potentially, significant shifts in employment patterns.
For many, the prospect of AGI will raise concerns about widespread job displacement. If AGI can perform tasks that once required extensive human training and skill, how many people will lose their jobs? It will affect a broad spectrum of professions, from truck drivers (yes, even drivers) to legal and financial analysts. One of the world’s leading experts on artificial intelligence, Ray Kurzweil, has an optimistic view. He often points to how hundreds of weavers were replaced by technology during the industrial revolution in England, yet thousands of jobs were created. He states, “AI will enhance human jobs. It will create new jobs, and it will make existing jobs more interesting. Every job that’s been eliminated has led to new job creation and jobs at a higher skill level, so there’s no indication that this trend will end.” Kurzweil believes that as AGI advances, it will automate certain tasks, but this will free up humans to pursue more creative, higher-order work, leading to new job creation and overall economic growth. His view contrasts with more pessimistic perspectives that predict mass unemployment due to automation.
Job displacement is obviously a major concern. There will be a period of turmoil as people will need to be retrained for new jobs. The government will have to face these challenges with creativity and parity. Yet, this potential for disruption also carries the possibility of liberation from monotonous labor. AGI could free individuals from routine and repetitive tasks, allowing humans to focus on more creative, relational, or self-actualizing endeavors. However, this shift will also require rethinking societal structures around work, as AGI could exacerbate economic inequality if not properly managed. We may need to consider alternative economic models, such as universal basic income, to ensure that people are not left behind in this transition.
Transformations in Healthcare
As my son was contemplating a career in medicine, I asked his Internal Medicine doctor if he thought that specialty would be a good one to pursue. The doctor firmly said, no. In fact, the doctor said that within just a few years, he’d need to find a new specialty. He advised a career in biomedical engineering.
AGI’s potential contributions to healthcare are revolutionizing medicine. Healthcare, a field that already benefits from advancements in machine learning and narrow AI, will likely see a revolution as AGI takes over complex diagnostics, treatment planning, and drug development. AGI systems will have the capacity to analyze vast amounts of medical data in real time, leading to faster and more accurate diagnoses. Personalized medicine — tailoring treatments to an individual’s genetic makeup — will become more precise and accessible, as AGI could process the myriad variables that determine how a person’s body responds to a given treatment.
Moreover, AGI could play a significant role in addressing global health crises. From predicting the outbreak of pandemics to managing logistical challenges in delivering care to underserved populations, AGI’s ability to analyze vast amounts of data and optimize complex systems will prove invaluable. However, as AGI assumes a more central role in healthcare, ethical questions arise. Who will control these systems? How will we ensure equitable access to the benefits of AGI in medicine? And how will human empathy and relational care — essential elements of the healing process — be preserved in a system increasingly dominated by machines?
The Revolution in Education
My wife is a public school teacher. It’s a career with increasing demands placed upon them by State legislatures, boards of education, and local school boards. Those demands are not necessarily bad, because they are often intended to improve the quality of a child’s education by incorporating standards as well as individual education plans. However, they place increasing administrative burdens on teachers, so they have less time and energy for the actual work of teaching.
This year, my wife has begun using AI to streamline her work, and it has freed her to focus on investing more of her time and energy into her students. Her lesson plans are interactive and engaging, and 100% compliant with State and local standards. Not only that, but they track what standards are met, to be sure that all the standards are met over the course of a semester. They cite the source material used — essential for her, since she teaches in a conservative State that tends to view teachers with suspicion. AI helps her create engaging videos specific to her students — sometimes using their own photos or quotes. This year, she feels like she actually has time to . . . teach!
AGI will profoundly reshape our experiences in education. Today’s educational systems are often limited by the need for one-size-fits-all approaches. Teachers, constrained by time and resources, cannot tailor their instruction to meet the needs of every individual student. AGI, however, could provide personalized learning experiences on a global scale, adapting to the pace, style, and interests of each student. This individualized approach would not only improve outcomes for learners but also democratize education by making high-quality learning available to people in every corner of the world.
With AGI’s capacity to understand and respond to each learner’s unique needs, education could become more dynamic, interactive, and effective. This would be a dramatic shift from traditional classroom models, allowing individuals to pursue education throughout their lives, as AGI-powered systems could offer tailored learning pathways for students of all ages. However, as with healthcare, the increased role of AGI in education raises important questions about access and control. Who will own the platforms that provide AGI-driven education, and how will we ensure that these systems are accessible to all, regardless of socioeconomic background?
Addressing Global Challenges
Perhaps the most significant promise of AGI lies in its potential to help humanity address the most pressing global challenges. Problems such as climate change, food insecurity, and global pandemics are complex, requiring the coordination of vast resources, data, and expertise. AGI’s capacity to process and synthesize large volumes of information in real time could enable it to develop more effective strategies for managing these crises. For example, AGI could model future climate scenarios with greater precision, helping policymakers make more informed decisions about how to mitigate environmental damage. Similarly, it could optimize agricultural production, reducing food waste and ensuring that resources are distributed more equitably.
However . . . someone could throw a wrench in this plan. It relies on our corporate — human — willingness to actually follow the AGI’s advice. There’s some promise in that regard. Last year, the United Nations hosted a Climate Ambition Summit. But there’s also a lot of pessimism. The world’s two largest polluters — the USA and China — didn’t attend that conference, because those nations seem to lack the willpower to commit to significant progress.
AGI will be an incredibly powerful tool for governments. However, it comes with serious risks. Stephen Hawking warned, “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.” The deployment of AGI to solve global problems will require careful governance. AGI systems, while highly intelligent, may lack the values, empathy, and ethical considerations that human decision-makers bring to the table. Ensuring that AGI is used responsibly will necessitate robust oversight and collaboration between governments, industries, and civil society. Will we have the wisdom to enforce those safeguards?
The Evolution of Human Identity
Finally, as AGI becomes more integrated into our lives, we may find ourselves questioning fundamental aspects of human identity. If AGI systems can outperform humans in cognitive tasks, what will this mean for our sense of uniqueness and purpose? The prospect of AGI calls into question long-held beliefs about human exceptionalism — the idea that there is something inherently distinct about human intelligence that sets us apart from machines and other animals. If AGI can replicate or even surpass our cognitive abilities, we may need to redefine what it means to be human. We will definitely need to define what it means to have a “soul.”
There will come a time (Kurzweil estimates by the year 2045) when our brains will link to the cloud, and it will increase our intelligence by a factor of a billion. I hope I didn’t just lose the reader, because that sounds fantastical. We will have nanobots, injected through our bloodstream, that attach to the neurons in our brain and link to supercomputers in the cloud. We will think unimaginably faster, have instant access to everything that is known (sort of like we already do via the internet), be able to compose symphonies, imagine hundreds of dimensions, and do things we simply can’t even imagine.
Will we still be human?
What if we can back up all the information in our brains to a supercomputer, and then make backup copies of that? If our bodies die, but our personalities and memories still live — are we still human?
Do we still have a soul, or have we been separated from it?
Given the opportunity, would you make a backup copy of your brain?
Conclusion
The rise of AGI promises to transform human life in profound ways. From reshaping work and education to revolutionizing healthcare and addressing global challenges, AGI will have a far-reaching impact on our world. However, these transformations also raise important ethical and philosophical questions about the nature of work, equity in access to new technologies, and the evolving meaning of human identity. As AGI continues to develop, it is essential that we approach these changes with a spirit of reflection, ensuring that this new technology serves the common good and enhances, rather than diminishes, our shared humanity.
