Intelligence is a degree of competence to reach the same goal by different means
I am listening to Michael Levin on Quanta’s YouTube video and in order to frame his position on what intelligence is, Levin quotes William James’s definition that:
Intelligence is a degree of competence to reach the same goal by different means
Levin explains further:
We are obsessed with this three-dimensional world. And so we are oblivious to all kinds of minds that are not like ours: intelligence in plants, in cells, in unicellular organisms, and even in minimal matter, which are materials that are far simpler than a cell or anything like that. Intelligence is not about neurons or what brains do. What matters is the ability to pursue certain goals.
This reminds me of James Bridle’s Ways of Being, where Bridle asks us to expand our understanding of intelligence beyond the human and acknowledge the otherness of other beings.
I think James’s definition can also be applied to artificial intelligence. AI systems are becoming increasingly capable of pursuing a goal and trying different approaches to reach it.
