Artificial Intelligence (AI), Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and physical AI sound like complicated Silicon Valley buzzwords (at least the AGI stuff) or maybe (small maybe) you’ve heard them thrown around during a Naijawood sci-fi movie marathon on Citizen TV (lol). Relax, let’s break it down using kwa ground examples and explain what these terms mean, how they differ, and why you should care.
AI: Your Digital Assistant That Knows One Job
AI is like Njoro, the fundi wa electronics in your estate who is very good at fixing TVs and only TVs. If you ask him to fix your fridge, and he’ll tell you to go elsewhere. In short, AI is smart, but only in one area.
Think of AI like:
- M-Pesa’s Fraud Detection System: It can flag suspicious activity based on patterns but doesn’t understand why your auntie from Kitale keeps sending you Ksh 999 at midnight.
- Google Maps in Nairobi: It’ll help you dodge traffic on Thika Road but doesn’t know you were delayed because you had to bribe a kanjo for “loitering.”
- Facebook Algorithms: It knows you love political memes but has no idea you're also a secret poetry lover.
These are all forms of Narrow AI. They do one job really well but don’t reason like humans. No common sense. No general knowledge. Just task-specific brains, for example, it might create stunning images, but you’d need a completely different AI to generate the video version.
AGI: The All-Round Genius You’d Love and Fear
Now imagine if Njoro could also fix your fridge, write you a Kikuyu love letter, negotiate your rent, and then beat you in chess, all without being trained separately for each skill.
That’s AGI (Artificial General Intelligence). It’s the kind of machine that can do anything a human being can do intellectually. It learns, adapts, and reasons like us. If AI is a boda boda sticking to one road, AGI is a 4x4 that goes off-road, through the forest, and even straight into your emotions.
Physical AI: Intelligence That Moves and Acts
Physical AI is the next evolution that doesn’t just think but also acts in the physical world. It understands space, time, movement, and interaction. Think of it as AI with a body. It sees, hears, touches, and reacts like a human would. Unlike traditional AI that only lives in your phone or computer, Physical AI can move, help, and hustle, like a robot domestic worker straight out of shags. The kind that sings traditional gospel songs at full volume, waking up the whole house, or one you finally don’t need to monitor with CCTV because you trust it won’t mistreat your child. It blends machine learning with robotics and real-world awareness to serve in ways digital-only AI never could.
If AI is your digital assistant and AGI is your genius twin, Physical AI is that new housemate who thinks, acts, and can also do chores without complaining or eating all your ugali.
Think of Physical AI like:
- A robot nurse at Kenyatta Hospital, that can monitor your vitals, give you medication, and alert a doctor; all without throwing shade or giving you a rude comment.
- A robotic waiter in a Nyama Choma joint that knows where your table is, remembers your order, and won’t get distracted flirting with customers.
- Your next Uber driver that is a self-driving car that navigates potholes in Githurai and dodges boda bodas like a true Nai driver.
But, what’s the Big Deal?
1. Jobs and Hustles
AI is already replacing repetitive jobs: call center scripts, cashier systems, even some farming tech. AGI? It could teach, counsel, even argue in court like a hotshot lawyer.
Effect: The job market will shift. Hustlers will need to upskill. Watu wa mjengo might be safe... until robots start laying bricks too. (Let’s not mention the Fukuoka, Japan sinkhole that was fixed in a week with precision construction tech.)
2. Education and Learning
AI tutors can help kids revise KCPE subjects with custom quizzes. AGI would teach like a seasoned human teacher, adjusting based on your child’s mood, strengths, or weaknesses. It could even speak like a group of schools teacher who pronounces words like a pree-mari (primary)student.
Effect: Personalized learning could benefit kids in Karen and Kibra alike. However, we must avoid digital colonialism by relying on AGIs trained on foreign realities.
3. Security and Ethics
An AI-powered CCTV detects movement and alerts the askari. An AGI-powered one might profile someone as “suspicious” just because you stattered when it asked you “Kijana unaenda wapi”
Poorly designed AGI could reinforce classism, tribalism, or racial profiling, creating bias directly into its programming.
At CES 2025, we witnessed mind-blowing inventions that marked major leaps in the worlds of AI, AGI, and Physical AI.
“The next wave of AI is physical AI. AI that understands the laws of physics. AI that can work among us,” declared Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang during his keynote speech.
He unveiled Nvidia’s Cosmos platform, designed to simulate real-world environments for robots and autonomous machines. It allows AI to predict multiple futures and make smart, context-aware decisions, like navigating Nairobi traffic without crashing into that unpredictable matatu from Rongai.
Meanwhile, Google entered the physical AI race with its futuristic Project Astra smart glasses. These specs deliver real-time information right in your line of sight, translating languages, recognizing objects, and offering navigation, all hands-free.
Imagine walking through downtown Nairobi and having your glasses whisper, “Hapo mbele kuna kanjo.” Now that’s AI with your back. Powered by Google’s Gemini system, these glasses pull AI out of your phone and bring it into your everyday reality, literally in your face.
While AGI and Physical AI are not fully here, we’re taking baby steps. Tools like ChatGPT, Siri, and Tesla’s autopilot are early hints. The dream is close but not yet home.
While AGI and Physical AI are not fully here, we’re taking baby steps. Tools like ChatGPT, Siri, and Tesla’s autopilot are early hints. The dream is close but not yet home.
What Kenya Should Do?
Now that we are famously late to the createch party (Does anyone know where Huduma Namba went), maybe our leaders should:
1. Localize Data
Train AI using Sheng, Kiswahili, indigenous languages, and local challenges, not just imported data from the Global North. Solutions aren’t one-size-fits-all. When we localize data, we reclaim our narratives, solve our own problems, and shape technology that truly understands kwa ground vitu ni different.
2. Set Ethical Policies
Protect IP rights, regulate AI use, and avoid exploitation or digital inequality. Hatupangwingwi digitally either.
3. Make Tech Education Accessible
From Class 3 to Jua Kali fundis, everyone should understand how to use, build, and question AI tools and not just the privileged few in leafy suburbs.
AI is already here, AGI is coming, and Physical AI is knocking. What we must remember is that they’re all just tools. Like a panga, they can be used to chop vegetables… or to cause harm. What matters most is who’s holding it, what values guide it, and who it ultimately serves.
So, next time someone talks about AI vs AGI vs Physical AI, remember: AI is your clever assistant. AGI is your genius twin. Physical AI? That’s your robot roommate, fixing your tap, vacuuming your house, and maybe, just maybe, taking your job.
Let’s stay woke. Digitally. Ethically. Collectively.
So, next time someone talks about AI vs AGI vs Physical AI, remember: AI is your clever assistant. AGI is your genius twin. Physical AI? That’s your robot roommate, fixing your tap, vacuuming your house, and maybe, just maybe, taking your job.
Let’s stay woke. Digitally. Ethically. Collectively.