What defines Intelligence: Human Brilliance, AI Capabilities, or IQ Scores?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a hot topic. It’s consistently, or at least periodically, a trending subject. Researchers and pioneers in this field have attempted to define the term Artificial Intelligence. An calculator can multiply numbers with more than five digits. Very impressive. Is that intelligent? Does that make it much more intelligent than us humans? Is this what defines intelligence?

Artificial intelligence is the ability of a computer or computer-controlled robot to perform tasks that are commonly associated with the intellectual processes characteristic of humans, such as the ability to reason. – Encyclopedia Britannica

This is how the Encyclopedia Britannica defines Artificial Intelligence.¹ Humans rarely multiply five-digit numbers in their heads. According to Elaine Rich, Artificial Intelligence is not even a capability but a science in itself:²

It is the study of how to make computers do things at which, at the moment, people are better. – Elaine Rich

Artificial Intelligence has more than one definition. The term is almost intangible. Whether an artificial agent is considered intelligent remains subjective, even if we generally assume that agents passing the Turing Test possess human-equivalent cognitive abilities. We differentiate between agents that think rationally, behave rationally, behave like humans, or even think like humans.

What all these definitions and approaches have in common is that they see human abilities as the benchmark. But what is natural intelligence? What does it mean when we call someone intelligent? The term intelligence comes from the Latin word ‘intellegere’, meaning to see, understand, or comprehend.

Some understand intelligence as what we measure in an Intelligence Quotient (IQ) test. There are many tests that produce various results. But why do we want to measure intelligence at all? If a particularly intelligent person is in front of us, we would surely notice, right? Sir Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin, was the first interested in this question. He attempted to measure the physical properties of nobles and set up a lab to measure their reaction times and other physical and sensory properties. It wasn’t until the 20th century that Alfred Binet developed the first test resembling a modern intelligence test. The scientist Spearman also spoke of a “g” factor underlying all cognitive abilities. Later, many other scientists were interested in the measurability of human intelligence. However, it’s still not clear what intelligence really is. There are many different theories attempting to describe what intelligence means. All are very different, but they all agree that intelligence cannot solely be described by what we measure in today’s IQ tests. Below we introduce a few well-known theories.

Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence (Raymond B. Cattell, 1963)³

• Crystallized Intelligence: The ability to use learned skills and knowledge.
• Fluid Intelligence: The ability to abstract information, solve complex problems, and recognize patterns.

Crystallized intelligence increases over a lifetime, while fluid intelligence declines significantly in later years. The decline in fluid intelligence is likely related to the deterioration of neurological functions, but may also be due to its less frequent use in old age.

Theory of Multiple Intelligences (Howard Gardner, 1980)⁴
According to Gardner, there are more than just one form of intelligence. Here are the first eight he defined:

• Logical-Mathematical Intelligence: Good at logic, abstractions, numbers, and critical thinking, understands random systems.
• Linguistic Intelligence: Good at reading, writing, telling stories, and memorizing words and data.
• Interpersonal Intelligence: Sensitive to the moods, feelings, temperaments, and motivations of others, works well in a group.
• Intrapersonal Intelligence: Good at self-reflection, predicting own emotions and reactions.
• Musical Intelligence: Sensitive to sounds, tones, and rhythms, can play instruments or sing.
• Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence: Good at sports, dance, or crafts, efficient use of hands or body.
• Visual-Spatial Intelligence: Visualizes with the mind’s eye.
• Naturalistic Intelligence: Understanding of nature, flora, and fauna.

The recognition of a form of intelligence depends significantly on the corresponding culture. While in Western culture, we primarily recognize logical-mathematical and linguistic intelligence, in Bali, individuals with bodily-kinesthetic and musical intelligence are esteemed. Music and dance are very important in their culture.

Triarchic Theory of Intelligence (Robert Sternberg, 1985)⁵
Robert Sternberg defines intelligence as the ability to achieve success based on personal standards and the socio-cultural context. He divides intelligence into three categories:

• Analytical Intelligence: The ability to evaluate information and solve problems (can be measured by IQ tests).
• Creative Intelligence: The ability to develop new ideas.
• Practical Intelligence: Adaptability to new environments in daily life.

Emotional Intelligence (Mayer and Mayer, 1990)⁶
This form of intelligence came later. It is very similar to Gardner’s interpersonal intelligence and describes:

• The ability to observe one’s own and others’ emotions.
• The ability to use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior.
• The ability to distinguish between emotions and name them appropriately.

Emotional intelligence is crucial for our self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. Managers with higher measured emotional intelligence are often perceived as more competent and stress-resistant.

In conclusion, it is still challenging to understand intelligence and find a unified definition. During our research, we found over 20 different definitions. This also makes it difficult to define “Artificial Intelligence” clearly. Personally, we find the definition from the Compact Oxford Learner’s Dictionary most fitting. It defines intelligence as:

The ability to learn, understand and think in a logical way about things; the ability to do this well – Compact Oxford Learner’s Dictionary

The interesting part is the parallels to the definition of learning from the Cambridge Dictionary:⁷

The acquisition of knowledge or skills through study, experience, or being taught. – Cambridge Dictionary

In combination, one might assume that intelligence describes our ability to learn. Learning is essential. We can learn our entire lives and learn how to learn. At least our measured IQ can be demonstrably increased through learning.

That IQ tests often do not provide reliable results and that results correlate with environmental factors such as birth-weight⁸, self-esteem⁹, and health conditions¹⁰ of the test subjects indicates that the measured IQ does not fully capture a person’s intelligence. In 1917, IQ tests were used in the USA to make decisions about the residency of various groups of immigrants.¹¹ Defining intelligence solely by the score of a test is short-sighted and can have dire consequences. Intelligence, regardless of theory, and the measured IQ value are not constants. Intelligence is largely a skill whose extent we can partly determine ourselves.¹² It is an expensive asset for a society, achievable only through a successful education system. Creating and maintaining natural intelligence is at least as costly as artificial intelligence. There are external circumstances that influence our intelligence and learning processes, but generally:

“Your brain has a capacity for learning that is virtually limitless, which makes every human a potential genius.” — Michael J. Gelb (American non-fiction author, executive coach, and management consultant)

Sources

1. https://www.britannica.com/question/What-is-artificial-intelligence ↩︎
2. Rich, E. (1985). Artificial Intelligence and the Humanities. Computers and the Humanities, 19(2), 117–122. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30204398 ↩︎
3. Cattell, R. B. (1961). Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence. In J. J. Jenkins & D. G. Paterson (Eds.), Studies in individual differences: The search for intelligence (pp. 738–746). Appleton-Century-Crofts. https://doi.org/10.1037/11491-064 ↩︎
4. Davis, Katie and Christodoulou, Joanna and Seider, Scott and Gardner, Howard Earl, The Theory of Multiple Intelligences (2011). Davis, K., Christodoulou, J., Seider, S., & Gardner, H. (2011). The theory of multiple intelligences. In R.J. Sternberg & S.B. Kaufman (Eds.), Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence (pp. 485-503). Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2982593 ↩︎
5. Sternberg, R. J. (1985). Beyond IQ: A triarchic theory of human intelligence. Cambridge University Press. ↩︎
6. Mayer, John & Roberts, Richard & Barsade, Sigal. (2008). Human Abilities: Emotional Intelligence. Annual review of psychology. 59. 507-36. 10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093646. ↩︎
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   they, and how can we research them? Cambridge University Press & Assessment Research
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8. Gu, H., Wang, L., Liu, L. et al. A gradient relationship between low birth weight and IQ: A meta-analysis. Sci Rep 7, 18035 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-18234-9 ↩︎
9. Furnham A, Grover S. Correlates of Self-Estimated Intelligence. J Intell. 2020 Feb 10;8(1):6. doi: 10.3390/jintelligence8010006. PMID: 32050616; PMCID: PMC7151158. ↩︎
10. Daniele, V., & Ostuni, N. (2013). The burden of disease and the IQ of nations. Learning and Individual Differences, 28, 109–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2013.09.015 ↩︎
11. Gelb SA. Henry H. Goddard and the immigrants, 1910-1917: the studies and their social context. J Hist Behav Sci. 1986 Oct;22(4):324-32. doi: 10.1002/1520-6696(198610)22:4<324::aid-jhbs2300220404>3.0.co;2-y. PMID: 11620949. ↩︎
12. Stankov, Lazar, and Jihyun Lee. 2020. “We Can Boost IQ: Revisiting Kvashchev’s Experiment” Journal of Intelligence 8, no. 4: 41. https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence8040041 ↩︎