It is intriguing to observe how both Machine Intelligence and Human Intelligence are incomplete in their own unique ways.
On one side there is the machine Intelligence (or Artificial Intelligence) that operates in a clearly defined fashion. This clearly defined fashion has been dreamed up by us. And perhaps this ‘clearly defined and predictable fashion’, in which the machine intelligence operates, is what makes us say that AI is not there yet. We feel that it is not sophisticated enough to stand on its own feet and take relevant decisions in uncertain context. 
When the machine processes something for us, we know what exactly it is doing i.e. the sequence of steps that are helping the machine to process – be it weather reports, translating a document into another language or a move in the game of chess, but the machine itself does not know what is the meaning of that what it is doing.
On the other hand we have the human intelligence - which we, as a species, are very proud of! While doing something we not only process it accurately mentally but we actually consciously know what is that we are doing. Without flinching one bit, we can adapt in different situations. As I mentioned in my earlier post Copy Paste this is what sets human intelligence apart from the world of AI.
However it could not be more ironical to observe that we ourselves still do not accurately know how are we intelligent the way we are. In other words, we understand the complete meaning of what we are doing, but we still do not know how our Brain is accomplishing it!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Two worlds of Incomplete Intelligence
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2 comments:
Dear saurabh,
i have been following your blog regularly and this particular article has made me think ...
arnt we all like machines? the so called superior being who invented AI is by and largely mechanical in nature.
I see so many around me who dont stop to think for a minute what they are doing and why. Its getting so predictive.
Even Terror attacks invite the same set reaction from all of us. Nothing new. nothing changes. So what is it that sets us apart from machines? Im yet to figure this one out.
Thanks again for reading Sanjeev. Your thoughts are taking me away from the post a little but I do not mind - this is a constructive digression.
From my understanding, I can share two perspectives with you.
Lot of fast changing/high pressure work environment does not allow thinking. There is just so much to be done - let me first meet the deadline and then think what I am actually doing (sad but true). When we see those recruitment ads in newspapers and on job hunting websites "Skills required - ability to work in high pressure environments". What they are implying is being able to think while chasing ever shrinking deadlines or while facing uncertain situations. This skill/ability is rare. I have observed that great thinkers are not the best doers and best doers cannot think much.
The second way to look at this is what our technology context is doing to our mental faculties. We prefer not to memorize much because we can always 'look up', we prefer not to write much (writing required thinking) instead copy share..In the bargain we have packed off both our storage & retrieval faculties (memory) and ability to find connections, and ability to think parallely as we listen or do something (part of intelligence) has gone on a log vacation.
In my limited understanding together these two lead to what you have observed as " I see so many around me who don’t stop to think for a minute what they are doing and why. Its getting so predictive."
There is one more factor - that will make me instantly very unpopular in media (assuming there are people from that industry who are actually reading all this stuff here).
Media is dumbing!
Look at any news channel - how often do they tell you something that makes you feel - aah that's interesting - never thought that..
In some - Work Pressure, Technology Use (in a certain way) & Media are together making us what you have perhaps rightly termed as "mechanical and predictive in nature."
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