While many people think of abstract ideas regarding artificial general intelligence (AGI), this technology has arrived at an important crossroads today. In fact, scientists stunned by its incredible potential agree to disagree on how the future of AGI should be shaped. Disagreements about the future of technologies, especially the ones that affect other technologies with convergence and share the digital transformation burden of the world, usually end with finding efficient and cost-effective options. There are many reasons why this is not the case in artificial intelligence. At the heart of all, we humans have been dreaming of this for a very, very long time. My previous article examined the fantastic precursors of artificial intelligence that date back centuries and cover many magnificent ideas, from giant smart robots to attempts to create willful beings in bell jars.

Researchers at Oxford University have recently tried to recreate human thinking patterns in machines, using a language guided imagination (LGI) network. Their method, outlined in a paper pre-published on arXiv, could inform the development of artificial intelligence that is capable of human-like thinking, which entails a goal-directed flow of mental ideas guided by language. Human thinking generally requires the brain to understand a particular language expression and use it to organize the flow of ideas in the mind. For instance, if a person leaving her house realizes that it's raining, she might internally say, "If I get an umbrella, I might avoid getting wet," and then decide to pick up an umbrella on the way out. As this thought goes through her mind, however, she will automatically know what the visual input (i.e.