Understanding and Articulating Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) Training by Tonex
Level: Advanced
Audience: Technical professionals, AI researchers, product strategists, policymakers, innovation managers, and futurists interested in AGI.
Optional Add-ons
- Certification: AGI Foundations Certificate (AIGFC) by NLL.ai or Tonex
- Extended Lab: 1-day workshop on building minimal AGI-like agents using symbolic & neural techniques
- Custom Deep Dive: Sector-specific AGI strategy session for defense, finance, or healthcare
This course equips participants with a deep understanding of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and how to articulate its concepts, implications, design philosophies, and societal impact. Participants will explore AGI’s foundational principles, contrast it with narrow AI, assess global R&D initiatives, and engage in scenario-based thinking to anticipate AGI trajectories.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Define AGI and differentiate it from narrow AI and superintelligence.
- Understand cognitive architectures, reasoning systems, and learning models underpinning AGI.
- Articulate current debates and milestones in AGI research.
- Assess risks, ethical concerns, and regulatory needs around AGI.
- Communicate AGI principles to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Evaluate AGI’s future role in defense, governance, economy, and human identity.
Target Audience
- AI developers and system engineers
- Innovation leads and R&D directors
- AI ethics researchers
- Government and defense strategists
- Venture capitalists and technologists
Course Outline
Day 1 – Foundations of AGI
Module 1: What is AGI?
- Definitions and conceptual boundaries
- Narrow AI vs. AGI vs. ASI
- Human-level intelligence benchmarks
- Key AGI thought leaders (e.g., Ben Goertzel, Yann LeCun, Gary Marcus)
Module 2: Architectures and Approaches
- Symbolic AI, connectionist models, hybrid architectures
- Cognitive architectures: SOAR, ACT-R, OpenCog, Sigma
- Transformer-based models and the AGI debate (e.g., GPT-4/5)
- Embodied cognition and sensorimotor grounding
Module 3: Current AGI Initiatives and Roadmaps
- OpenAI, DeepMind, Anthropic, SingularityNET
- Open-source vs. closed AGI efforts
- National and international AGI strategies
- Challenges in measuring progress
Interactive Session:
Participants work in teams to define an AGI roadmap for a fictional country balancing innovation, ethics, and security.
Day 2 – Articulating and Operationalizing AGI
Module 4: Risks and Governance
- Existential risks, value alignment, control problem
- AI alignment vs. interpretability vs. corrigibility
- Ethics, social contract, and AGI impact on labor
- Regulatory models (EU AI Act, US initiatives, IEEE standards)
Module 5: Articulating AGI for Impact
- Communicating AGI potential to stakeholders
- Translating AGI concepts into business or national strategies
- Narrative framing and future storytelling
- Scenario planning: AGI in 2030 and beyond
Module 6: AGI in Systems Design and Society
- AGI for defense, climate, and autonomous governance
- Interfacing AGI with other technologies: quantum computing, brain-computer interfaces
- Human-AI collaboration and augmentation
- Preparing for artificial superintelligence (ASI)
Capstone Simulation:
“AGI Release Dilemma” – Teams role-play as a global AI council deciding on AGI deployment, confronting ethics, security, and economics.
Integrated Exercises & Activities
Day 1: Foundations of AGI
Exercise 1: AGI Definition Debate
Objective: Clarify and challenge assumptions about AGI.
Format: Small group discussion
Instructions:
1. Divide into 3 groups, each with a different definition of AGI (e.g., Turing Test-level, human cognitive equivalence, adaptive goal-driven reasoning).
2. Debate: Which definition is most valid and actionable for research or policy?
3. Each group presents their case in 5 minutes.
Exercise 2: AGI System Design Challenge
Objective: Apply architectural knowledge in a creative build.
Format: Group exercise
Instructions:
• Teams are given an AGI use case (e.g., planetary exploration, global diplomatic AI, or autonomous innovation scientist).
• Choose or create a cognitive architecture for the AGI (symbolic, neural, hybrid).
• Identify:
o Key components
o Memory and learning strategy
o Goal-setting mechanism
o Safety layer
• Present a sketch of the system on a whiteboard or virtual board.
Exercise 3: AGI Research Timeline
Objective: Build a shared mental map of AGI evolution.
Format: Group research and presentation
Instructions:
• Groups build a timeline of AGI-relevant milestones: Turing, McCarthy, Goertzel, DeepMind’s Gato, OpenCog, GPT, etc.
• Add expected future milestones (e.g., AGI in national defense, AGI ethical charter).
• Present in visual format (e.g., timeline infographic or slides).
Day 2: Articulating and Operationalizing AGI
Exercise 4: The AGI Alignment Matrix
Objective: Explore the tension between power and safety.
Format: Team matrix exercise
Instructions:
• Plot AGI projects on a 2D grid:
o X-axis = capability (low to superintelligent)
o Y-axis = alignment (aligned to misaligned with human values)
• Discuss where current initiatives (e.g., OpenAI, DeepMind) fall.
• Then map fictional AGI futures: Where would “Open Source AGI,” “Corporate Super AGI,” or “Military AGI” fall?
Exercise 5: AGI Scenario Narratives
Objective: Develop foresight and articulation skills.
Format: Creative storytelling
Instructions:
• Teams are assigned different AGI arrival scenarios (e.g., gradual emergence by 2030, sudden intelligence explosion in 2026, AGI emerging from a nation-state lab).
• Write a 3–5 minute narrative describing:
o What happened
o How it changed society
o What ethical or regulatory responses occurred
• Present as a news segment, policy briefing, or short video.
Exercise 6: AGI Policy Drafting
Objective: Practice clear articulation to decision-makers.
Format: Individual or team writing
Instructions:
• Draft a one-page policy memo or executive summary:
o Topic examples: “Should AGI be open source?”, “The case for a global AGI treaty”, “Funding AGI alignment”
o Audience: Government, UN, Corporate Board
• Peer review each other’s memos for clarity and impact.