In search of a new story, today I look into the uniqueness of humans in relation to the ever-smarter computer. A story that touches the moment when we hen we reach singularity.
Singularity, what is that anyway?
Singularity is a moment in time when developments cause an enormous shift that has a lasting impact on everyday life. It’s a moment when you move into a new era, so to speak. It is a moment when the generation before the shift cannot imagine what it will be like afterwards. And the generation after the shift cannot imagine what life was like before. So Singularity is not something new. We have known these moments before. For example, the advent of electricity and of the Internet. The difference is that these shifts are getting closer to each other, because developments are going exponentially faster. So within one generation we will pass from the shift of internet to the next: the moment the intelligence of computers surpasses the intelligence of humans: The Intelligence Revolution.
Artificial Intelligence is hot
Finland is taking the lead in creating awareness by offering an open online course: Elements of AI. Yesterday, Germany announced that it would free up 3 billion for the development of AI. Not to lag too far behind countries like China and the US. It is a kind of rat race. We have to do something with it. And so, all sorts of things pop up everywhere. I think Finland’s idea is very strong, by the way. The online course – good in terms of content, but pretty boring in terms of form – is a good start to give everyone the same starting point. A shared definition of what it is and what it is not. In order to become aware of its impact from there. It helps not to be very awkwardly confronted with a new reality.
Superintelligence; where does that leave humans?
Ok, this new era is all about superintelligence. Are we, as humans, then written off? Fortunately not. Because if you look deeper into intelligence, there are areas in which the computer will soon be stronger, but fortunately there are many areas in which we humans are already unbeatable.
Multi Intelligence
I first heard about the concept of Multiple Intelligence when I was doing an assignment in childcare. It is a model introduced in 1983 by the American psychologist Howard Gardner. By the way, there is no scientific foundation. For Gardner the model was not a goal, but a means to look at the different qualities of the child, in order to stimulate development on a broad level. From that point of view, it also helps in our context. Because you see that as human beings we have different qualities, and in comparison with the computer, you immediately notice, where we can remain distinctive.
Below are the 8 different intelligences:
- Verbal-linguistic: sensitive to language, good at speaking/listening/reading, functional use of language, good at grammar.
- Musical-rhythmic: sensitive to sound, rhythm consistent, linking emotion and sound, good memory for music.
- Intrapersonal: self-knowledge, reflect on own actions, adaptability, personal development.
- Interpersonal: understanding of others, sensitive to mood of others, able to motivate others, strong capacity for empathy.
- Physical-kinesthetic: strong awareness of own body, strong motor control, need for movement, learning by doing.
- Visual-spatial: good memory for images, learning by looking, strongly developed topographical sense, good ability to visualize emotions and experiences.
- Logical-Mathematical: logical thinking, abstract, inquisitive, motivation to explain the physical world.
- Naturalistic-Ecological: interest in nature, observation and recognition, collecting and organizing, handling plants and animals
Of all 8, just one overlaps with the domain of computing. AI will certainly play a role in some domains, but there are also many different intelligences that are really unique to humans. Particularly interpersonal & intrapersonal.
A different way of looking at intelligence
The Intelligence Revolution is therefore not the moment when we no longer play a role in the intelligence domain, but the moment when it is necessary to be distinctive in the intelligence fields where the computer plays no – or only a supporting – role. Looking at things this way also brings us back to the classification of knowledge levels I shared in the first article: Imagination, Reason and Intuition. Where AI plays a dominant role in Reason, we as humans are still in charge of Imagination and Intuition.
And therefore, René Descartes’ “Cogito ergo sum” (“I think therefore I am”), will no longer be appropriate as an interpretation of humans in this new era. In the new narrative, we must come to a different conclusion.