Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) -- the hypothetical intelligence of a machine that possesses the ability to understand or learn any intellectual task that a human being can -- highlights self-value and autonomous decision-making, according to a Chinese developer.
Compared with traditional artificial intelligence, the hallmark of AGI is the construction of its own value system, thereby possessing autonomous decision-making capabilities rather than passively executing instructions, explained Zhu Songchun, dean of the Beijing Institute for Artificial General Intelligence.
To redefine the path toward true AGI, Zhu and his team introduced "Tong Tong," the world's first AGI agent, featuring a young girl AI model capable of autonomous learning, reflection and growth, marking a significant milestone in AI technology development. The 2.0 version of the agent was officially launched in March 2025.
Zhu has been working in the field of AI for 38 years. The creation of Tong Tong began with his core exploration: to give machines a mindset, that is, to free machines from their dependence on massive amounts of data and instead build a cognitive architecture with causal reasoning and self-awareness.
In an interview with China Central Television, Zhu said that the hallmark of AGI is the ability to complete unlimited tasks and to make autonomous decisions, rather than passively executing instructions.
"First, it should be able to accomplish unlimited tasks. Second, it must act autonomously, instead of simply following instructions. Third, it must be driven by its own inner values, because it has an original intention and value, not based on what others say or do," Zhu said.
To support Tong Tong's authentic growth, Zhu and his team built a realistic 3D virtual world for it, allowing it to explore the world, learn basic life skills and social skills, and develop its cognition in a highly simulated physical and social environment, just like a human child.
"Judged superficially, this is called training, but from the technical perspective, it requires a certain structure in its mind before you can train it. So, the first step in social intelligence is that it needs to know what you're thinking, and the way it views others, so that it can begin to recognize value in others. On this basis, we assign it value at various levels," Zhu said.
"In fact, Tong Tong has task management capabilities. When we have different tasks, it will sort them out according to the importance and priority of the problem, as well as its own value, and then choose what to do," said engineer Mou Muyun.
In the global competition for artificial intelligence, hardware such as computing power and electricity are important competitive factors. However, Zhu said that the future will be determined not only by these external conditions, but also by the competition to build a fundamental intelligent architecture based on conscience and value immunity. Such an intelligent architecture can prevent AI from becoming a "tool without principles."
"Speaking of the safety issue of artificial intelligence, we aim to ensure that the value system of Tong Tong is kept safe throughout its development, and further determine ‘safety’ during the process. At the same time, it needs what we call a cognitive immune system, a value immune system, keeping it from accepting certain values or beliefs," Zhu said.
As a member of the 14th National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Zhu brought his proposals to China's annual political "two sessions", aligning with the government's "AI Plus" initiative which aimed at large-scale deployment of intelligent agents across sectors.
The "two sessions" are the yearly meetings of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the CPPCC. The fourth session of the 14th NPC and the fourth session of the 14th National Committee of the CPPCC kicked off in Beijing on Thursday and Wednesday, respectively.
Zhu said he hopes that the AGI can enter every household and integrate into all walks of life in the future.
"In fact, Tong Tong is a brain, which is why we are going to Hubei, Chongqing, and other central and western regions, where they need us and opened up their industries to us. So we're combining Beijing's technological innovation advantages with their industrial innovation advantages. We have a smart body factory specifically designed to build this kind of platform, and during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) [for national socioeconomic development], we will further develop a large platform to help them build such smart bodies," he said.
Artificial General Intelligence highlights self-value, autonomous decision-making: developer
