Artificial intelligence and human intelligence: the double puzzle

Overview of the book Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence: The Double Puzzle - Daniel Adler: Artificial intelligence is witnessing the peak of its glory. Following a series of failures in its early beginnings, it has made remarkable progress at the dawn of the twenty-first century, although it remains difficult to understand: ambiguity and confusion still surround some aspects of artificial intelligence. Despite the progress achieved, the gap between it and its declared goal—simulating human intelligence—hardly narrows. To understand the features of this puzzle, we must confront a second puzzle: human intelligence. The latter is not reduced to merely the ability to solve any problem, but it describes, through judgment, the way we confront situations and circumstances in which we find ourselves involved. Intelligence as a strict normative concept, like moral or aesthetic judgment, is therefore always elusive. The intelligent artificial system does not perceive situations and circumstances; it only perceives the problems presented to it by human actors. It is precisely at this level that artificial intelligence can support us and strengthen us. Because, in fact, it is increasingly solving a growing set of urgent and vital problems. This should remain its sole goal, not the misguided and unreasonable aim of mimicking or even surpassing human intelligence. Humanity needs flexible, powerful, and versatile tools, not semi-human beings equipped in an inhumane manner with forms of knowledge.