SingularityNET Founder Foresees 'Baby AGI' by Early 2025

SingularityNET founder Ben Goertzel predicts that the precursor to a fully functional Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), termed as 'baby AGI,' could materialize as soon as early 2025. Speaking at the Beneficial AGI Summit in Panama, Goertzel outlined a comprehensive plan to develop AGI that prioritizes open source principles, decentralized infrastructure, diverse algorithms, and ethical data practices.

Goertzel was the chief scientist at Hanson Robotics, the company behind the humanoid bot “Sophia.”

Goertzel's Plan and Blueprint for Accelerating AGI Development

• Goertzel's Plan: Emphasizes open source code, decentralized governance, and global inclusivity.
• OpenCog Hyperon Project: Expected to pave the way for AGI development, with an alpha release scheduled for April.
• Metta Programming Language: Designed to accelerate AI development by enabling open-source collaboration.

Support for Defensive Accelerationism

• Goertzel endorses Vitalik Buterin's d/acc AGI approach, emphasizing the importance of decentralized accelerationism.
• Views on AGI Development: Critiques accelerationist and decelerationist approaches, advocating for a balanced, decentralized strategy.

Potential Risks and Concerns in AGI Development

• Goertzel acknowledges potential risks associated with AGI development, including geopolitical competition and regulatory capture.
• Ethical Considerations: Warns against unethical uses of AGI that could exacerbate societal inequalities and pose existential risks.
• Hollywood Scenarios: While unlikely, Goertzel acknowledges the possibility of AI going rogue, emphasizing the need for cautious development

Despite the promising advancements in AGI development, Goertzel's acknowledgment of potential risks and uncertainties underscores the need for cautious optimism. The path to AGI remains fraught with ethical, regulatory, and existential challenges, requiring ongoing vigilance and global collaboration to navigate.