This is one of the great questions in artificial intelligence. It partially depends on another of the Great Questions: what is intelligence? We’ll explore that one in a different article.
The short answer is, I think so. I believe that anything nature can create can be recreated. I also believe that anything physical can be created virtually, to an extent. You have to account for the loss of precision, of course.
To me, it’s just a matter of when and how intelligent the AGI will be. I ignore the predictions of it being ten years away, which comes up every year. They’ve been saying that about fusion power, moon bases, and a LOT of other things as well. Yet here we are, waiting for our flying cars (which seem to be closer than much anything else).
So long as it’s just technologists working on AI, I doubt we’ll reach it any time soon. With the help of others, such as philosophers, psychologists, scientists, artists, historians… basically a group as diverse as humanity, then maybe in a hundred years. I know that I won’t be around to see it. But I will play my part.
