Terence Tao: True AGI Remains Out of Reach, but 'General Smartness' is Already Here

Renowned mathematician Terence Tao recently shared his view that current AI tools are still far from achieving true Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). However, he introduced the concept of ‘general smartness,’ pointing out that this weaker form of intelligence is becoming a reality. Tao explained that ‘general smartness’ refers to AI’s ability to solve complex problems through random methods or brute-force computation. These approaches may be unexplainable or unstable, but when combined with rigorous verification procedures, they can achieve remarkable success at a scale beyond human capability. This perspective creates an interesting paradox: AI technology can simultaneously demonstrate extremely high practicality and impressive performance while having some fundamental flaws in its essence. This insight is valuable for understanding AI’s current capabilities and future development.