The term “Artificial Intelligence” was first used by John McCarthy at a conference at Dartmouth College in 1956. However the concept of self-learning, adaptive systems (now called AI systems) goes back to at least 1900 and some people claim it began with Greek myths or philosophers such as Descartes.

Some people believe that machines could become as intelligent as humans while other say machines could far surpass human intelligence and pose a threat to human existence.

The United Nations realises that AI is already having a profound effect upon many parts of our lives, and its effect will continue to increase dramatically. In September 2024, for example, the Secretary-General’s High-level Advisory Body on AI published its final report: “Governing AI for Humanity”.

So it is appropriate for us to deal with this subject here. For example, it will useful to know the difference between artificial general intelligence and artificial superintelligence.

Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is a hypothetical AI with human-level intelligence, capable of performing any intellectual task a human can. Artificial superintelligence (ASI), on the other hand, is a step beyond, possessing intelligence that vastly surpasses human capabilities in every field. Think of AGI as an AI that can learn and reason like a human, whereas ASI is an AI that could solve problems beyond human comprehension and evolve exponentially.

AI is already used by large business which are making redundant many of their employees who used to work answering questions from customers or the public. And this is a trend that is likely to continue.

Companies are currently spending billions on AI, with big tech companies alone planning to spend hundreds of billions in 2025 on infrastructure like data centers and chips. Global spending on AI is projected to exceed $330 billion in 2025, with estimates suggesting it could reach approximately $2 trillion annually by 2030 to sustain development. This includes significant investments in research and development, cloud services, and building out AI infrastructure.

In October 2025 over 28,000 people signed an online petition calling for a ban on the development of ASI. The list includes hundreds of public figures and several prominent AI pioneers. You can see a video of an interview with Anthony Aguirre, one of the organizers of the petition, on YouTube.

More articles on this important topic will be added in the future.

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