Catapulted by mind-numbing computing speeds, innovative algorithms and massive data, AI is forever transforming the ways we approach, handle, analyze, and use vast amounts of information.
This scenario is altering the ways we think, reason, solve problems, and make decisions.
How we work and live are being irrevocably transformed.
"Transformations" arrive and manifest in many welcome, unfortunate and mixed forms, affecting varied individuals and groups differently.
As a result, many now worry that AI will dissolve and displace our human capacity to think, making it increasingly less necessary to do so as it appears to have answers to almost anything.
Jiajie Zhang, Dean and Glassell Family Foundation Distinguished Chair in Informatics Excellence at the UTHealth Houston McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics urges us to recognize that although AI and humans truly "think" differently, rather than viewing this a trade-off between one form of intelligence and another, we should instead regard each as mutually advantageous enabler.
Consider differences in how we and computers store and apply contextual experience-based memory for example.
AI's working memory is much more powerful and capable of handling vast amounts of data simultaneously, but --- it lacks the human ability to integrate experiences and context.
Short-term memory in humans is brief and context-sensitive, holding small amounts of information for short periods of time and prone to interference and decay without active rehearsal and focused attention.
AI's memory has no such limitations.
Long-term human memory is associative, categorized as semantic, episodic or procedural, connecting across experiences.
By contrast, AI's memory is purely data-driven, stored in databases, cloud systems and large language models entirely lacking rich emotional and experiential connections that characterize human memory.
As for planning and problem-solving abilities, in each case it depends on the sort of questions that are asked.
AI problem-solving abilities are unmatched when tasks are clearly defined and structured, applying algorithms such as reinforcement learning to rapidly analyze vast datasets and calculate optimal solutions, but lack human insight, creativity, and intuition, especially in novel or ambiguous situations which demand flexible thinking where humans excel.
And although AI's reasoning can process vast amounts of information without the influence of fatigue or emotional bias, making decisions based purely on mathematical models like decision trees or neural networks, it can also inherit biases from its training data while lacking human ability to intuitively adjust reasoning in complex, context-dependent scenarios.
Here, human decision-making incorporates empathy, social considerations, and ethical judgment, elements that are difficult to quantify but crucial in many real-world contexts.
Also, while AI can produce outputs that seem creative, it cannot experience nor express true inspiration, emotion, or originality.
Human creativity thrives on abilities to combine unrelated ideas, draw from personal experiences, and apply emotional depth to creative processes to generate novel, unique solutions to problems and create art, music, and ideas that are shaped by culture, motivation, and emotional life.
However, AI can only mimic such creativity based solely on existing data using algorithms like Large Language Models.
Positive human social experience requires emotional intelligence which draws upon self-awareness, empathy, and our ability to navigate complex intrapersonal situations.
AI, while capable of recognizing patterns in emotional data including detection of human sentiments to simulate empathetic appearing responses, lacks the genuine emotional experience that humans rely on in true social interactions.
Our human ability to adapt, generalize across contexts, and apply abstract thinking allows us to learn from relatively small amounts of data in an ongoing, flexible cognitive process shaped by environment, culture, and personal experiences that influence how we think, interact, and make decisions.
In contrast, while AI can learn quickly in certain domains (e.g., supervised or reinforcement learning), it requires vast amounts of data and is less adept at generalizing to new or unfamiliar situations.
Jiajie Zhang concludes that a comparison between AI and human intelligence reveals a complementary relationship rather than a competition.
AI shines here in areas requiring rapid data processing, problem-solving, and decision-making, especially in structured environments, while human intelligence excels in creativity, emotional understanding, adaptability, and the ability to learn from limited data and experiences.
Rather than asking which form of intelligence is superior, Zhang urges we should instead recognize how AI and human cognition can collaboratively work together, leveraging computational power alongside our special creativity and emotional intelligence to tackle ever more complex problems and push the boundaries of what's possible.
The future of intelligence is collaborative, where AI enhances human capabilities, and humans guide AI with our emotional depth and creative thinking.
Referring to this time as the "James Watt" moment for cognition, Zhang urges that as we stand in awe of AI's power, we should not either lose sight of its limitations or fail to recognize the profundity of human thought or breadth of human understanding.
While navigating the AI Revolution it is imperative that we maintain a balanced perspective, recognizing that while it will undoubtedly shape our future, we cannot allow AI to define it.
Zhang prudently concludes: "The role of AI is to serve and benefit humanity, not dwarf or control it. We must continue to value the unique qualities of the human mind and spirit, which are the originators of cognitive artifacts and the true drivers of innovation.
Larry Bell is an endowed professor of space architecture at the University of Houston where he founded the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture and the graduate space architecture program. His latest of 12 books is "Architectures Beyond Boxes and Boundaries: My Life By Design" (2022). Read Larry Bell's Reports — More Here.