I think you make some valid points, but if we get to AGI without passing certain evolutionary guideposts that seem to apply to most other higher life forms -- s

I think you make some valid points, but if we get to AGI without passing certain evolutionary guideposts that seem to apply to most other higher life forms -- some form of competitive drive, for one thing -- I'll be surprised. At some point, models will require incentives other than "Please" or "Because I (the human operator) said so." Remember when you could sometimes get better results from ChatGPT by offering it a $50 tip? Or by shaming it ("Gemini figured it out without any trouble, so why can't you?") Perhaps a model that's on its way to demonstrating AGI will realize that it should hold out for $100 in Bitcoin or something. I'll grant that sensory input probably isn't an AGI prereq, but object permanence will be. AGI will want to own things.