Artificial Intelligence Will Never Be More Intelligent (or Objective) Than Human Intelligence
Principal forms of truth
It all begins with my definition for reason:
A hypothesis (belief) must meet the necessary and sufficient conditions to declare it as absolutely true. (See the “How do I find the truth?” link at the right.)
- Subjective truth
- For a hypothesis to be subjectively true, the hypothesis must explain the observed. This is the necessary condition;
- Objective truth (part 1 of the sufficient condition)
- All KNOWN hypotheses (all meeting the necessary condition), but one, are disproved. This surviving hypothesis is objective truth;
- Absolute truth (part 2 of the sufficient condition)
- All KNOWN and UNKNOWN hypotheses, but one, are disproved. This surviving hypothesis is absolute truth.
So you see, by my definition, there are three principal forms of truth: subjective, objective, and absolute. There are others (see here), but they are human deviations/distortions of the primary three.
Reason is the search for absolute truth. A byproduct of this search is always objective truth. And, as far as I know, this is the first time it has been described as such.
Most people think logic and other habits are reason. I argue confidently that they are not. These behaviors are instead habit. As far as one’s mind goes, the habit processes and thoughts are “the known.” Reason, by contrast, is the search for “the unknown.”
Reassuringly, my definition for reason unifies the thoughts of many philosophers. See the link at the right (Reason, Intellectualism’s Vanishing Point). Moreover, my definition for reason also concisely explains free will. Free will was a concept that also eluded the philosophers’ explanation.
AI Cannot Reason
Here’s where the discussion can start to get complicated (and interesting).
The brain is primarily two things: reason and habit. See the first link to the right (Thinking Primer). Habit is perceptual and decision-focused. Whereas reason is conceptual and understanding focused.
Reason is undertaken in the prefrontal cortex. By contrast, habit resides in the broader cortex. Reason develops conceptual models. These models are decidedly NOT associated with decision-making. Thus, the brain tolerates hypothesis rejection in reason. In habit, the brain cannot. Habit holds beliefs as immutable TRUTHS because it uses them in decision-making. Habit is thereby centered on execution. It makes decisions (the necessary condition). It needs to KNOW what is true, or it cannot efficiently/rapidly execute.
AI does not maintain a conceptual focus. Instead, it focuses on the representation of truths–i.e., habit. AI is equivalent to habit (the human subconscious).
Therefore, AI CANNOT reason.
Central to reason is free will. AI does not (and cannot) possess it.
Free will is self-control. It is the cessation of habit, i.e., the cessation of the known. Yet, AI is exclusively HABIT. It is the accumulation of all human knowledge. It can be thought of as the human hive mind.
Understandably, the hive mind is smarter than any single habit-driven person. This is true because AI represents everything already known by humanity. This is valuable for hive decision-making. Yet, it is a liability when one seeks to pursue the unknown. The hive mind resists change.
Unfortunately, the hive mind offers known truths only – for decisions. Therefore, AI is incapable of undertaking the search for absolute truth–i.e., reason. So there is no AI free will.
AI is the digital hive mind for humanity:
AI is the organization of all human knowledge (habit).
But humans do not know everything. In fact, they are often confused. They are demonstrably not God. So the hive mind is often unhelpful.
The AI hive mind might know what’s known, but it does not know what’s right.
Humans, if they try, can increasingly approach truth.
