Artificial Intelligence vs Human Intelligence: 7 Differences

The cracks in the "computer metaphor".

Most of us may find it complicated to understand how machines work. However, next to our brains, an artificial intelligence artificial intelligence system looks like a six-piece jigsaw puzzle.

Perhaps this is why we believe that to understand our way of thinking, perceiving and feeling it is useful to create an analogy between our nervous system and an intelligent machine: perhaps, we think, the latter could be used as a simplified model of what goes on in our heads. We even believe that with the sophistication of new technologies we will be able to create forms of artificial intelligence that function similarly to us, simply by quantitatively improving the capacity of our computer systems.

Artificial intelligence vs human intelligence: why is our brain not a computer?

That day seems to be not yet near. There are many differences that separate us from electronic brains, and these are not superficial issues, but of structure. Here is a list of the main differences between artificial intelligence systems artificial intelligence systems systems and the way our brains work.

1. Their architecture is different

A machine with artificial intelligence has a series of data input and output ports that we can easily identify. This is not the case in our brain: each substructure of its globality can be both a receiver of data and a sender of information.. Nor is it known in which direction the information travels, since endless branching and loops are a constant in the world of neurons.

2. Their functioning is different

In any artificial intelligence structure it is possible to differentiate the channel through which data travels (hardware) and the information itself. In a brain, on the other hand, the distinction between information and the material medium through which it travels does not exist. The data that are transmitted are themselves material changes that determine the force of attraction that exists between neurons. If neuron A is more connected to neuron B than to neuron C, the information is one, while if A becomes more connected to C, the information is another.

3. The data with which the brain works cannot be stored.

A consequence of the fact that we do not distinguish between channel and information is that there are no large data stores in our heads either.. That is why we never remember something in the same way, there are always small variations. In fact, it has been proven that even people with a highly developed autobiographical memory can have false memories.

4. The importance of context

Our organic brains adapt like a glove to every situation, even though every situation we experience is unique.Even though every situation we live in is unique. Moreover, in unpredictable contexts, different people are able to react in the same way. This is something we do not find in artificial intelligence systems, where different stimuli lead to the same result only if those stimuli are previously determined: if A, then C; if B, then C. Human beings, with all our faults, are made to live in a chaotic context. Our brain is capable of interpreting all stimuli, even if they are presented unexpectedly and are totally new.

5. Artificial Intelligence needs regularity

Artificial intelligence systems need to be set up in a very specific way to be able to execute commands and make information pass from one place to another in the right way. and make information pass from one place to another in the right way. Brains, on the other hand, are unique to each of us.

Next to the network of approximately 100,000,000,000,000 neurons that support our thinking, the fingerprints that serve to identify us in some contexts seem to be all the same. Moreover, our brain is constantly changing, even while we sleep. The great virtue of our brain is that it can function well at all times despite being subject to constant unpredictable alterations: hence it has been defined as the most complex system in existence.

6. Its origin is different

Any artificial intelligence system has been built by one or more intentional agentsscientists, programmers, etc. Our brains, however, have been shaped by evolution. This means that, while artificial intelligence is built on specific ways of encoding information following logical patterns and operations, our brain has to make do with a set of nerve cells that do things that are proper to nerve cells (redundancy aside). If a machine works from instructions, the functioning of our brain is based on the set of interactions that occur between neurons.

7. We are more emotional than rational beings

This may be a hasty statement (after all, how do you measure what is rational and what is irrational? it can be said that logical and systematic thinking is reduced only to certain situations and moments in our daily lives.. While artificially intelligent machines can only work on the basis of arguments and premises, in our case it is normal to skip this step.

Do the posture in which you are sitting respond to rational criteria, such as the need to keep your back in a position that does not damage it? Or have you at some point decided that what is more important than your health is to avoid the effort of keeping your back upright? In fact, have you ever thought about this issue? The truth is that, although rational thought and logic have only recently appeared in our evolutionary history, our brain has remained more or less the same for 200,000 years.