Daily SumUp

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt says the world is three to five years away from “artificial general intelligence” that will be equal to, if not better, than any human thinkers or creators today.

It’s a prediction that, if true, could have tremendous consequences for music and other creative industries.

“Within three to five years we’ll have what is called [artificial] general intelligence, AGI, which can be defined as a system that is as smart as the smartest mathematician, physicist, artist, writer, thinker, politician… you get the idea,” Schmidt said during a panel discussion with Jeanne Meserve, host of the NatSec Tech podcast for the Special Competitive Studies Project.

Schmidt said this will be possible because of a process called “recursive self-improvement,” in which AI algorithms are able to learn on their own and increase their capabilities – and he says this is already happening.