A Simple Definition of Super Intelligence
Super Intelligence generally describes intelligence or intellectual capability that goes beyond ordinary human ability.
In discussions about artificial intelligence, the term superintelligence is often used for a hypothetical future AI system whose intellectual abilities exceed those of humans across many or nearly all important areas.
That is one way to understand the idea.
But there is another question worth asking:
What happens when ordinary human intelligence gains access to extraordinary machine intelligence?
Super Intelligence May Be About More Than the Machine
Much of the discussion about advanced artificial intelligence focuses on how intelligent the machine itself may eventually become.
Will AI become as capable as a human?
Will it become more capable than a human?
Could it eventually exceed the combined intellectual capabilities of humanity?
Those are enormous questions.
But they can cause us to overlook something that is happening much sooner.
Humans are gaining access to increasingly powerful intelligence right now.
Think About What One Person Can Already Do
A person working with modern AI can ask for help researching a subject, understanding complicated information, developing an idea, improving writing, learning a new skill, analyzing possibilities, organizing a project or creating software.
That doesn't mean AI performs every task perfectly.
It doesn't.
AI can misunderstand questions, produce incorrect information, miss context and make convincing-sounding mistakes.
Human judgment remains important.
But compare what an individual can attempt today with what that same individual could reasonably attempt only a short time ago.
Something has changed.
From Scarce Intelligence to Accessible Intelligence
Throughout most of history, specialized knowledge and intellectual capability were difficult to access.
If you needed legal knowledge, you consulted someone who had spent years studying law.
If you needed programming, you hired a programmer.
If you needed research, analysis, design, editing or technical knowledge, you found people with those skills.
Organizations with money could assemble teams containing many different kinds of expertise.
Ordinary individuals usually could not.
AI is beginning to change the economics of access to intellectual capability.
A New Kind of Access
The extraordinary part may not simply be that intelligent machines exist.
It may be that millions of ordinary people can increasingly access their capabilities.
The Human + AI Equation
Artificial intelligence brings capabilities humans have difficulty matching.
It can process information quickly.
It can work across many subjects.
It can identify patterns, compare possibilities and generate ideas at remarkable speed.
But the human brings something different.
The human brings experience.
The human brings goals.
The human brings curiosity.
The human brings values, judgment, imagination and purpose.
Maybe the Super Intelligence isn't the machine alone. Maybe it is the amplified human.
This is the idea behind what we call Human + AI.
Is Today's AI Really Super Intelligence?
Calling today's AI systems true superintelligence would go beyond the traditional meaning of the term.
Today's systems remain imperfect. They have limitations, require human direction and can produce incorrect answers.
But there is another way to look at the transition.
Instead of asking only whether a machine has crossed some invisible line and become "superintelligent," we can also ask whether people working with increasingly capable intelligence are gaining abilities that previously would have required far greater resources.
In many cases, the answer is already yes.
Why Call It SI?
The initials AI stand for Artificial Intelligence.
SI can stand for Super Intelligence.
The difference isn't merely a change in terminology.
AI describes where the intelligence comes from.
SI invites us to think about the level of capability that intelligence can create.
And perhaps even more importantly, it encourages us to think about what becomes possible when humans gain access to it.
SI — Super Intelligence
Why Ordinary People Now Have Access to Extraordinary Intelligence
Bruce Goldwell explores what increasingly powerful intelligence means for everyday people and why the biggest change may not simply be smarter machines, but more capable humans.
View the Book on AmazonCould Super Intelligence Be a Great Equalizer?
One of the most interesting possibilities is that access to intelligence could reduce some of the advantages historically enjoyed only by large organizations.
A small business owner may gain access to sophisticated brainstorming and analysis.
An author may gain a research assistant.
A retiree may gain a patient personal teacher.
An entrepreneur may be able to explore and develop an idea without immediately assembling an expensive team.
A person who simply wants to understand something may be able to ask questions until the subject finally makes sense.
Access does not automatically produce success.
But it can give more people the opportunity to try.
What Comes Next?
Nobody can say with certainty how powerful these systems will become or exactly how they will change society.
What we can see is the direction of travel.
Intelligence is becoming more capable.
It is becoming easier to access.
And people are discovering new ways to work with it.
That makes the next question especially important:
If extraordinary intelligence becomes available to almost everyone, what will you choose to do with yours?
Continue Exploring
Super Intelligence is a large subject, and we're only beginning the conversation.
Continue with Super Intelligence vs Artificial Intelligence to explore the difference between AI and SI.
Or explore Human + AI and the idea that the most important intelligence may emerge from what humans and intelligent systems can accomplish together.