The Shifting Definition of AI: Why 'AGI' Means Different Things to Different People

A commentary piece on DEV Community raises a foundational question about artificial intelligence: what the term actually means, as industry leaders like Dario Amodei and Sam Altman publicly discuss slowing AI development. The author points out that the definition of 'AI' has historically shifted whenever machines mastered a specific task — chess engines, calculators, and spam filters were once considered intelligent, then quietly reclassified as mere computation. Terms like AGI, ASI, and 'reasoning models' are frequently used interchangeably despite representing fundamentally different concepts, from economic productivity to human-like learning to self-awareness. The piece argues that unlike physics, intelligence lacks a settled, measurable definition, making timelines such as 'AGI in five years' difficult to evaluate without first agreeing on what the target actually is. The author concludes that recent calls to slow AI development signal meaningful progress, but may also reflect the same recurring cycle of hype and redefinition that has defined the field for decades.