Artificial intelligence is a computer system that can perform complex tasks that would otherwise require human minds — such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages. [1] Computers and machines controlled by AI could soon be used in place of humans to carry out a variety of tasks, from managing a home to driving cars, and much more. The majority of these machines rely on deep learning and programming, which helps “teach” them to process vast amounts of data to recognize patterns and carry out actions. It is essentially recreating the human mind in machine form. The leaps forward in this sector have been so significant that when Gartner surveyed over 3,000 CIOs, AI was the most mentioned piece of technology.
However, even though artificial intelligence is referred to as AI in the media, there are different types of AI out there. These three types are artificial narrow intelligence (ANI), artificial general intelligence (AGI), and artificial super intelligence (ASI). So, what are the differences between each of the three AI types?
Artificial Narrow Intelligence
ANI is also referred to as Narrow AI or Weak AI. This type of artificial intelligence is one that focuses primarily on one single narrow task, with a limited range of abilities. If you think of an example of AI that exists in our lives right now, it is ANI. This is the only type out of the three that is currently around. This includes all kinds of Natural Language or Siri.
Artificial General Intelligence
AGI technology would be on the level of a human mind. Due to this fact, it will probably be some time before we truly grasp AGI, as we still don’t know all there is to know about the human brain itself. However, in concept at least, AGI would be able to think on the same level as a human, much like Sonny the robot in I-Robot featuring Will Smith.
Artificial Super Intelligence
This is where it gets a little theoretical and a touch scary. ASI refers to AI technology that will match and then surpass the human mind. To be classed as an ASI, the technology would have to be more capable than a human in every single way possible. Not only could these AI things carry out tasks, but they would even be capable of having emotions and relationships.
NOTES
[1] Source Oxford.
