What is Intelligence?

– Summary for the AI Winter video

1. Human intelligence is very hard to define as it has so many aspects

2. Aspects of human intelligence include the ability to learn, creativity, reasoning and the

ability to explain, use of language, vision, problem solving, adapting to new situations,

cognitive ability, memory

3. There are many definitions of AI, because it is a rapidly changing area, it involves

researchers from many backgrounds, and because human intelligence is not well defined;

4. The Turing Test was first described in 1950 by Alan Turing

5. The purpose of the Turing Test is to determine whether or not a system can be described

as intelligent

6. In the Turing Test, an operator uses a terminal to communicate with a system being tested

by asking any questions and observing the responses. If unable to tell whether the responses

are coming from a machine or a human, then the system being tested can be described as

intelligent

7. No computer system has yet passed the Turing Test;

8. In fact, the Turing Test can only be used to show that a system ’behaves’ in an intelligent

way.
Tutorial 1 (What is Intelligence)
1. Why is it difficult to define "artificial intelligence"?
2. Why is it difficult to define "intelligence"?
3. List 6 aspects of human intelligence, and give an example of each
4. Describe the Turing Test in your own words.
5. If a computer program passed the Turing Test, could it be said to be "intelligent"? Give one
argument in favour of this, and one against.

Sample Answer
Q1:
The subject is always developing and changing.
Many different branches of science are involved (e.g. computer science, biology, psychology,
philosophy) which all have different perspectives.
There are many different views on the definition of natural intelligence.

Q2: There are many aspects to intelligence, and there is no universal agreement about what it
means.

Q3:
a) ability to learn (e.g. the more you play chess, the better you get)
b) creativity (e.g. writing a story)
c) reasoning (e.g. being able to explain why the sky is blue)
d) use of language (e.g. being able to speak, read or write)
e) vision (e.g. being able to recognise a friend’s face in a crowd)
f) problem solving (e.g. how do I get into my house if I have lost the key)
g) adapting to new situations (e.g. finding my way around in a place I have never visited
before)

Q4: In the Turing Test, an operator uses a terminal to communicate with a system being tested
by asking any questions and observing the responses. If unable to tell whether the responses are
coming from a machine or a human, then the system being tested can be described as intelligent.

Q5:
If it passed the test, it was impossible to distinguish between the computer and a human, so the
computer must be as intelligent as the human
All the test shows is that the computer behaves in a way that appears intelligent. It does not
necessarily mean that it actually is intelligent.