Intelligence and Consciousness
What Artificial Intelligence Can Teach Us About the Nature of Life
Abstract
While our human intellectual abilities are rooted in the presence of consciousness, the development of computer-generated artificial intelligence (AI) teaches us that intelligence can exist independently of the level of consciousness. At the same time, we are beginning to recognize the potential of networked systems to serve as carriers of knowledge, intelligence, and creative power.
If we extend the concept of neural networks to other interconnected systems involving molecular or elemental exchange processes—such as those found in many biological organisms, for instance within cells—we can begin to discern forms of intelligence that may help explain phenomena like self-organization and the vital activity inherent in living systems.
From this perspective, three types of intelligence emerge that we should distinguish: natural, neural, and artificial intelligence. For each of these forms, the question arises as to whether a (possible) consciousness exists as an inner-perspective dimension within an outwardly intelligent system.
And although our neural consciousness allows us only a limited glimpse into the realm of natural processes, we can nonetheless marvel at the infinitely complex diversity and mysterious intelligence of life itself.
