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Definition

What is AGI? The definition behind the timeline fights

Last updated: August 26, 2026 · Updated as verdicts change
By the AGI Scorecard team · methodology & independence
AI that can do the cognitive work of a skilled human — and the definition is half the fight. AGI (artificial general intelligence) usually means AI that can perform essentially any cognitive task a human professional can. But forecasters use materially different bars — from “drop-in remote worker” to “automated AI researcher” — and that definitional gap explains much of why public AGI timelines range from 2026 to 2047.
The part a chat answer goes stale on
62.5/100 how much of the AGI-2027 thesis is still standing — recomputed from eight graded predictions, as of 2026-08-08
See all eight verdicts, each with its pre-registered flip condition →

Every definition above stops being true on a specific, published condition.

The 62.5/100 above is not an opinion — it recomputes from eight graded predictions, each with a pre-registered flip condition. When one flips, the definitions table on this page changes with it. Subscribe and you hear on the day that happens, not when a headline does.

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The working definitions that matter

Definition (bar)What it requiresStatus, mid-2026
Benchmark-level capabilityMatch skilled humans on scoped professional tasksLargely here (~83% GDPval, ~80% SWE-Bench Pro)
Drop-in remote workerDo a real job end-to-end, unsupervised, reliablyNot yet — reliability lags benchmarks
Automated AI researcher (Aschenbrenner's bar)Autonomously conduct AI research itselfUndemonstrated

Almost every public disagreement about “when AGI” is really a disagreement about which row counts. By the first bar, something like AGI is arriving now. By the third — the one Situational Awareness uses, because it triggers an intelligence explosion — it has not arrived, and that is what the AGI-by-2027 verdict tracks.

What AGI is not

AGI is not the same as superintelligence (ASI) — AI far beyond the best humans at essentially everything. In the standard sequence, AGI is the trigger: once AI can do AI research, hundreds of thousands of automated researchers compress progress, and superintelligence follows. Nor is AGI the same as a strong chatbot: fluent conversation was passed years ago without the autonomy that defines the serious bars.

How close is AGI in 2026?

On capability, close: models sit near the top of the skilled-human range on scoped knowledge work and agentic coding. On autonomy, the defining gap remains: no system has run the full research loop — or a full job — reliably without human supervision. That split verdict is why this scorecard grades the capability prediction On track while the headline AGI-by-2027 claim stays Open, resolving by January 1, 2028.

When do forecasters expect it?

Public timelines span Musk's end-of-2026, Aschenbrenner's 2027, Hassabis's ~50% by 2030, Metaculus's 50% by 2033, Karpathy's roughly-a-decade, and the academic survey's 2047 — with expert medians compressing from ~2060 to ~2033 in about six years. The full comparison: when will AGI arrive?

Frequently asked questions

What is AGI in simple terms?

AGI (artificial general intelligence) is AI that can do essentially any cognitive task a skilled human professional can — not just chat or pass tests, but perform real work across domains. The strictest common bar is AI that can autonomously do AI research itself.

What is the difference between AGI and ASI?

AGI matches skilled humans at general cognitive work; ASI (superintelligence) is far beyond the best humans at essentially everything. In most forecasts AGI comes first and, by automating AI research, accelerates the path to ASI.

Does AGI exist in 2026?

By the loosest definition (benchmark-level capability on scoped tasks), arguably close — ~83% on GDPval-style knowledge work. By the serious bars — a reliable drop-in worker, or an automated AI researcher — no. That autonomy gap is why the AGI-by-2027 prediction is still Open.

Why do AGI predictions differ so much?

Mostly definitions and weighting of the autonomy gap. Forecasters using capability-centric bars predict 2026–2027; those weighting reliability and autonomy land 2030–2047. Public forecasts currently span Musk (2026) to the academic survey median (2047).

What are examples of AGI today?

There are none — no deployed system in 2026 meets a serious AGI bar. The closest candidates are frontier models scoring ~83% on GDPval-style knowledge work, which still fail the two bars that matter: working as a reliable drop-in employee, and doing autonomous AI research. Until one exists, the honest examples are hypothetical — which is why this site tracks eight dated predictions (62.5/100) instead of pointing at a product.

The live scorecard updates as models ship and verdicts change.

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