Judah Goldfeder, Philippe Wyder, Yann LeCun, Ravid Shwartz-Ziv, AI Must Embrace Specialization via Superhuman Adaptable Intelligence, arXiv:2602.23643v1 [cs.AI], 2026.
Abstract: Everyone from AI executives and researchers to doomsayers, politicians, and activists is talking about Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Yet, they often don't seem to agree on its exact definition. One common definition of AGI is an AI that can do everything a human can do, but are humans truly general? In this paper, we address what's wrong with our conception of AGI, and why, even in its most coherent formulation, it is a flawed concept to describe the future of AI. We explore whether the most widely accepted definitions are plausible, useful, and truly general. We argue that AI must embrace specialization, rather than strive for generality, and in its specialization strive for superhuman performance, and introduce Superhuman Adaptable Intelligence (SAI). SAI is defined as intelligence that can learn to exceed humans at anything important that we can do, and that can fill in the skill gaps where humans are incapable. We then lay out how SAI can help hone a discussion around AI that was blurred by an overloaded definition of AGI, and extrapolate the implications of using it as a guide for the future.
In view of the articles in this special double-issue of Dædalus, AI & Science: What Is the Future of Discovery?, I must agree. Yes, the ascent of Mount AGI will continue, but at the same time we will be developing more specialized AIs for specific tasks, AlphaFold is one example, but it is only one of many. Back in 1990 David Hays and I published an article in which we asserted, "Sooner or later we will create a technology capable of doing what, heretofore, only we could." We didn't put any dates on that, nor did we envision today's technology, but we could see the long-term trend. And that trend certainly includes specialized AIs. Think of them as intelligent instruments.
[Hmmm... Why don't we think of trains, planes, and cars as superhuman vehicular transportation (SVT)?]
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