The White House’s recent AI Action Plan omits three letters: AGI. That’s a good thing. America’s AI policy must move past its narrow fixation on an arbitrary term – relevant perhaps to industry insiders, but irrelevant to the core questions that should guide national AI development and deployment.
Artificial General Intelligence, or AGI, lacks a clear definition. Most attempts focus on AI’s hypothetical ability to outperform humans across nearly all tasks, implying profound societal disruption once this threshold is reached. For example, AGI is seen as signaling a rapid and widespread displacement of jobs. Some even forecast that AGI will usher in a world in which AI not only matches human intelligence but surpasses it, putting humans in a permanent subordinate role to machines.
Dramatic headlines of near-term economic and societal disruption are impossible to avoid. AI research lab communications fuel the sense that AGI is imminent, destined to wreak havoc in our daily lives. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently predicted entry-level jobs would soon shrink dramatically, triggering widespread anxiety among students and parents. Educators have likewise felt pressure to rapidly integrate these tools, urging students to stay ahead of an uncertain curve.
The net result? More users, more data, and more revenue for the labs.
What’s lacking? Thoughtful, deliberate, and evidence-based deployment and adoption strategies.
AGI fixation by major labs is understandable for executives or researchers. AI benchmark leaders draw investor attention and global accolades, while enormous returns on investment await those who break the AGI finish line tape first. For AI researchers, the race to AGI offers superstar status and perhaps even a Nobel Prize. Still, such aims do little to put the US in the best position to compete with China or to prepare to tackle the more urgent near-term challenges, opportunities, and risks that will ultimately shape how successfully AI is adopted across society – or not.
Meanwhile, China remains notably indifferent to AGI, except when Chinese researchers mimic U.S. talking points to engage their American counterparts. At the recent World AI Conference in Shanghai, China’s strategy emphasized practical industrial and consumer applications, productivity growth, and meeting national goals, not chasing abstract benchmarks or replacing humans wholesale.
The obsession with AGI distracts from the practical, nuts-and-bolts work necessary to drive AI toward tangible national benefits. What’s more, this focus is wildly disconnected from how technological adoption actually happens. Even if we achieved ‘AGI’ tomorrow, however it may be defined at the time, widespread public skepticism and institutional inertia in America would still prevent realization of the supposed benefits.
The US stands at a critical juncture in the evolution of AI. Our current fascination with AGI, a phantom limb of future tech, threatens to cripple our potential. This obsession, fueled by corporate agendas and speculative headlines, distracts from the tangible, immediate needs of our nation. It’s time to shed these self-imposed blinders and learn from those who already see this technology for what it is: a tool that is best applied in specific context and for specific outcomes.
Let’s imagine an AI policy defined not by a race toward an ill-defined finish line, but a steady, strategic climb. Every line of code, every model, and every AI deployment should be rigorously assessed for measurable benefits and attendant risks to national security, economic resilience, and societal well-being.
It is time to move beyond the abstract and into the concrete: how many jobs are we creating, and how are we retraining Americans for the digital age? How are we strengthening critical infrastructure? What measurable improvements are we bringing to healthcare, education, and national security? What are the risks to individuals, industries, and society writ large?
We should abandon the fantasy that AI’s ultimate purpose is to replicate human intelligence. Instead, let’s leverage AI as a practical tool – a driver of innovation and a measurable force multiplier for the American economy and society. The conversation should be about increasingly advanced AI, not AGI. This isn’t merely a matter of semantics; it’s a matter of strategic clarity. The path forward demands a reorientation, one that channels America’s formidable innovative spirit into practical applications and evidence-based impact. Only then can we harness AI to build a more secure, prosperous, and resilient future for all Americans.
