3 ms·

It's curious to me why we have no theory of intelligence. By which I mean an actual hard and verified theory, as in physics for gravity, electromagnetism, quant

It's curious to me why we have no theory of intelligence. By which I mean an actual hard and verified theory, as in physics for gravity, electromagnetism, quantum mechanics. Intelligence is simply not well-understood at a mathematical level. Like medieval engineers, we rely so heavily on experimentation in AI. We have no idea how far away from the human level we actually are. Or how far above the human level we can get. Or what, if anything, the limits of intelligence are.

jimbokun 7mo ago
By now you would have to say it’s because “intelligence” is no more well defined than “consciousness” or “the soul”. A more concrete idea like “learning” has been very strongly defined and quantifiable, which is maybe why progress in a theory of learning is so much more advanced than a theory of “intelligence“.
programjames 7mo ago
I think this is the equivalent of a non-nuclear physicist asking, "why do we have no theory of nuclear physics?" in the late 1930s. Some people do, they're just not sharing it.
booleandilemma 7mo ago
Who is more intelligent: a twenty-something influencer making money from her bedroom, or a grad student barely making ends meet? Who is more intelligent: a politician, or a high school teacher? What is intelligence, anyway?
- Mistletoe 7mo ago
  We have a pretty good answer to your questions, they are called IQ tests. It’s not like measuring intelligence is uncharted territory. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/i-gave-chatgpt-an-iq-test-heres-what-i-discovered/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/i-gave-chatgpt-an... https://www.reddit.com/r/singularity/comments/1p5f0b1/gemini_3_has_topped_iq_test_with_130/ https://www.reddit.com/r/singularity/comments/1p5f0b1/gemini... Gemini 3 Pro has an IQ of 130 now but we keep moving the goalposts and being like “not THAT intelligence, we mean this other intelligence”. I suspect, and history shows us this will be the case, that humans will judge AIs as not human and not intelligent and not needing rights way past the point where they should have rights, even when vastly superior to human intelligence.
  - booleandilemma 7mo ago
    IQ tests are nonsense. The more IQ tests you take the better at them you get. And who is "we", you pretentious dirtbag.
    - Mistletoe 7mo ago
      https://g.co/gemini/share/2c358c58555f https://g.co/gemini/share/2c358c58555f That doesn’t make them invalid. Who takes IQ tests over and over?
      - booleandilemma 7mo ago
        You're missing my point. A test that you score better and better on each time isn't measuring intelligence, is it?
  - namero999 7mo ago
    IQ tests only measure the ability to pass IQ tests, they say very little about intelligence. MMA fighters might be among the most intelligent people on the planet, playing 4D bullet chess with each part of their body at light speed, while scoring a flat 100 at IQ tests (the average).
Mr_Minderbinder 7mo ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIXI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIXI

jimbokun 7mo ago

By now you would have to say it’s because “intelligence” is no more well defined than “consciousness” or “the soul”. A more concrete idea like “learning” has been very strongly defined and quantifiable, which is maybe why progress in a theory of learning is so much more advanced than a theory of “intelligence“.

programjames 7mo ago

I think this is the equivalent of a non-nuclear physicist asking, "why do we have no theory of nuclear physics?" in the late 1930s. Some people do, they're just not sharing it.

booleandilemma 7mo ago

Who is more intelligent: a twenty-something influencer making money from her bedroom, or a grad student barely making ends meet? Who is more intelligent: a politician, or a high school teacher? What is intelligence, anyway?

Mistletoe 7mo ago
We have a pretty good answer to your questions, they are called IQ tests. It’s not like measuring intelligence is uncharted territory. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/i-gave-chatgpt-an-iq-test-heres-what-i-discovered/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/i-gave-chatgpt-an... https://www.reddit.com/r/singularity/comments/1p5f0b1/gemini_3_has_topped_iq_test_with_130/ https://www.reddit.com/r/singularity/comments/1p5f0b1/gemini... Gemini 3 Pro has an IQ of 130 now but we keep moving the goalposts and being like “not THAT intelligence, we mean this other intelligence”. I suspect, and history shows us this will be the case, that humans will judge AIs as not human and not intelligent and not needing rights way past the point where they should have rights, even when vastly superior to human intelligence.
- booleandilemma 7mo ago
  IQ tests are nonsense. The more IQ tests you take the better at them you get. And who is "we", you pretentious dirtbag.
  - Mistletoe 7mo ago
    https://g.co/gemini/share/2c358c58555f https://g.co/gemini/share/2c358c58555f That doesn’t make them invalid. Who takes IQ tests over and over?
    - booleandilemma 7mo ago
      You're missing my point. A test that you score better and better on each time isn't measuring intelligence, is it?
- namero999 7mo ago
  IQ tests only measure the ability to pass IQ tests, they say very little about intelligence. MMA fighters might be among the most intelligent people on the planet, playing 4D bullet chess with each part of their body at light speed, while scoring a flat 100 at IQ tests (the average).

Mr_Minderbinder 7mo ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIXI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIXI