Current language models lightyears distant from human-like AI: Early DeepMind investor

Google and Microsoft are working on artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbots. These chatbots utilize machine learning and natural language processing to then provide human-like answers. But if an early investor in the research facility DeepMind is to be believed, the industry is still some way from developing human-level artificial intelligence despite tremendous breakthroughs in the technology.

“In terms of artificial general intelligence, OpenAI, ChatGPT stuff: it’s like saying we’re going to jump to the moon,” CNBC reported Humayun Sheikh, a founder investor in AI firm DeepMind, as saying.

“We took a big jump, but we’re not at the moon yet,” Sheikh remarked. He also remarked that the large language models (LLM) built by Microsoft-backed business OpenAI are lightyears away from artificial general intelligence, or AGI.

AGI is a hypothetical system which is supposed to be capable of accomplishing any task exactly like human beings.

LLMs are limited

According to the investor, who is now co-founder of AI and blockchain firm Fetch.ai, noted that LLMs are quite restricted.

"How you really persuade them to perform specific things is still in its infancy. This is very much: Google is not born yet, but Yahoo is,” he added.

His remarks come weeks after Google-parent Alphabet combined DeepMind with Google Brain, to establish Google DeepMind, in order to better compete with the industry leaders like Microsoft. Google introduced its own chatbot, Bard, in March this year.

Earlier this week, Demis Hassabis, the creator of DeepMind and who is playing a significant role in Google DeepMind, indicated that some sort of AGI would be attainable “in the next few years.” Google bought DeepMind for $500 million in 2014.

Google I/O

Google is conducting its annual developers conference, Google I/O, on May 10 and the firm is anticipated to showcase AI-powered products and services during the event. The business will also announce a new Pixel smartphone which is anticipated to be the Pixel 7a.