Startups and academics clash over whether superhuman AI is really ‘coming into view’

Hype is growing from leaders of major AI companies that "strong" computer intelligence will imminently outstrip humans, but many researchers in the field see the claims as marketing spin.

The belief that human-or-better intelligence -- often called "artificial general intelligence" (AGI) -- will emerge from current machine-learning techniques fuels hypotheses for the future ranging from machine-delivered hyperabundance to human extinction.

"Systems that start to point to AGI...