What Is Intelligence?

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I think one of the problems is we don't have a good sense of what intelligence is. Our state of understanding the brain is still quite limited. People tell me, well, human beings aren't very intelligent either. But they're using the term very differently. Intelligence isn't just one thing, it's not a yes or no thing either. And I think intelligence is one of those terms that's kind of a placeholder for things we don't understand yet.

Computer Scientist and author Melanie Mitchell of Portland State University and the Santa Fe Institute talks about her book Artificial Intelligence with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Mitchell explains where we are today in the world of artificial intelligence (AI) and where we might be going. Despite the hype and excitement surrounding AI, Mitchell argues that much of what is called "learning" and "intelligence" when done by machines is not analogous to human capabilities. The capabilities of machines are highly limited to explicit, narrow tasks with little transfer to similar but different challenges. Along the way, Mitchell explains some of the techniques used in AI and how progress has been made in many areas.