I think a lot of people say this. Very few informed people say this. But for a layperson, its difficult to tell who is informed and who isn't (and in fact laypeople haven't heard of the real experts: Hinton who?)
Well, I get the feeling a lot of AI experts see some real potential for AGI to arrive sooner than expected, but they will be the first to admit that current techniques are insufficient and it would require some smart team to significantly augment current techniques with major new ideas.
