Is Intelligence Artificial?

Abstract

Our understanding of intelligence is directed primarily at the level of human beings. This paper attempts to give a more unifying definition that can be applied to the natural world in general. The definition would be used more to verify a degree of intelligence, not to quantify it and might help when making judgements on the matter. A version of an accepted test for AI is then put forward as the 'acid test' for Artificial Intelligence itself. It might be what a free-thinking program or robot would try to achieve. Recent work by the author on AI has been more from a direction of mechanical processes, or ones that might operate automatically. This paper will not try to question the idea of intelligence, in the sense of a pro-active or conscious event, but try to put it into a more passive, automatic and mechanical context. The paper also suggests looking at intelligence and consciousness as being slightly different.