Exclusive Q&A John Carmack’s ‘Different Path’ to Artificial General Intelligence

Feb 3, 2023 ·

John Carmack is an American game programmer, engineer and entrepreneur best known for his work on the video games Doom and Wolfenstein 3D. In a recent interview with Dallas Innovates, Carmack discussed his efforts to bring about artificial general intelligence (AGI). He believes that AGI can be achieved through an open source platform, which he calls "The Forge." This platform would provide a framework for people to develop methods and technologies, while also allowing third parties to collaborate in creating AI agents.

Carmack's vision of AGI focuses on a process of self-improvement, where machines have the capacity to improve through their own experimentation and learning. By creating an environment with greater access to data and knowledge, AGI could more effectively progress towards greater sophistication. He also emphasized the need for transparency and accountability in the development of AI, so the programming is free from biases or human manipulation.

The Forge platform would allow developers to observe the behavior of their AI programs, as well as track and evaluate their contributions. This would create an environment that encourages collaboration and challenges the traditional boundaries preventing people from working together to create intelligent and effective AI.

In order to achieve AGI, Carmack believes that developers need to look beyond conventional methods, such as machine learning, and embrace newer approaches. He cites evolutionary computation, reinforcement learning and transfer learning as potential methods that could lead to breakthroughs in AGI. Furthermore, Carmack believes that there should be multiple paths for progressing towards AGI, as opposed to focusing on one specific method.

Ultimately, Carmack believes that AGI opens up many possibilities for humanity, such as providing better healthcare, improving transportation and creating better job opportunities. To make this a reality, he believes that AI developers need to focus on collaboration, transparency and open source platforms like The Forge to ensure success. With these steps, Carmack believes that AGI is closer than ever before.