Intelligence

People who are good at solving poorly defined problems don't get the same kind of kudos. They don’t get any special titles or clubs. There is no test they can take that will spit out a big, honking number that will make everybody respect them.

And that’s a shame. My grandma does not know how to use the “input” button on her TV’s remote control, but ... See more

Duke Rem: You often suggest (without stating it directly) that human intelligence is inherently social and contextual. How (and why) does this perspective challenge current AI methodologies?

Erik Larson: Human cognition is deeply embedded in social interactions, cultural norms, and the specific contexts in which we operate. We learn, reason, and ma... See more

Speaking of what excites you…The psychologist Angela Duckworth (best known for her research on grit) talks about “the complex dance between having intelligence and having interest.” The more she studies intelligence, she said, “the more I’m like, ‘I don’t even know what it is.’” People who have interest in a topic or subject learn better and rememb... See more

language models are not intelligent in the ways that even small children are intelligent, but they are already superhuman at tasks like summarization, translation (both linguistic and conceptual), and association. And when you apply those skills to artfully curated source material written by equally, but differently, gifted humans, magic can happen... See more

The reason experts are so split on whether or not we're on an exponential path to AI is that intelligence is multi-dimensional. You can be both exponentially exploding/scaling in one dimension and stagnating in another. You can be both superhuman and subhuman at the same time. People tend to focus on the dimensions most salient to their inclination... See more

Intelligence without risk is an empty thought, as is an intelligence whose realization takes no time. Risk and time are the presuppositions for the history of intelligence in which nothing is given in advance and nothing is completed as the totality of that history.