TY - JOUR
T1 - Position
T2 - 42nd International Conference on Machine Learning, ICML 2025
AU - Blili-Hamelin, Borhane
AU - Graziul, Christopher
AU - Hancox-Li, Leif
AU - Hazan, Hananel
AU - El-Mhamdi, El Mahdi
AU - Ghosh, Avijit
AU - Heller, Katherine
AU - Metcalf, Jacob
AU - Murai, Fabricio
AU - Salvaggio, Eryk
AU - Smart, Andrew
AU - Snider, Todd
AU - Tighanimine, Mariame
AU - Ringer, Talia
AU - Mitchell, Margaret
AU - Dori-Hacohen, Shiri
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 by the author(s).
PY - 2025/1/1
Y1 - 2025/1/1
N2 - The AI research community plays a vital role in shaping the scientific, engineering, and societal goals of AI research. In this position paper, we argue that focusing on the highly contested topic of ‘artificial general intelligence’ (‘AGI’) undermines our ability to choose effective goals. We identify six key traps—obstacles to productive goal setting—that are aggravated by AGI discourse: Illusion of Consensus, Supercharging Bad Science, Presuming Value-Neutrality, Goal Lottery, Generality Debt, and Normalized Exclusion. To avoid these traps, we argue that the AI research community needs to (1) prioritize specificity in scientific, engineering, and societal goals, (2) center pluralism about multiple worthwhile approaches to multiple valuable goals, and (3) foster innovation through greater inclusion of disciplines and communities. Therefore, the AI research community needs to stop treating “AGI” as the north-star goal of AI research.
AB - The AI research community plays a vital role in shaping the scientific, engineering, and societal goals of AI research. In this position paper, we argue that focusing on the highly contested topic of ‘artificial general intelligence’ (‘AGI’) undermines our ability to choose effective goals. We identify six key traps—obstacles to productive goal setting—that are aggravated by AGI discourse: Illusion of Consensus, Supercharging Bad Science, Presuming Value-Neutrality, Goal Lottery, Generality Debt, and Normalized Exclusion. To avoid these traps, we argue that the AI research community needs to (1) prioritize specificity in scientific, engineering, and societal goals, (2) center pluralism about multiple worthwhile approaches to multiple valuable goals, and (3) foster innovation through greater inclusion of disciplines and communities. Therefore, the AI research community needs to stop treating “AGI” as the north-star goal of AI research.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105023586155
M3 - Conference article
AN - SCOPUS:105023586155
SN - 2640-3498
VL - 267
SP - 81090
EP - 81117
JO - Proceedings of Machine Learning Research
JF - Proceedings of Machine Learning Research
Y2 - 13 July 2025 through 19 July 2025
ER -