Integrated Intelligence

Key Points:

• The concept of "Integrated Intelligence" examines how AI is becoming intertwined with and extending human cognition, both individually and collectively.
• Generative AI like large language models can amplify certain human skills like creativity when used effectively. However, AI has uneven competencies across tasks.
• The boundaries between human and artificial intelligence are fluid and opaque. Determining optimal collaboration requires ongoing learning about AI's capabilities and limitations.
• Historically, humans have thrived by combining our collective strengths. Integrating AI "minds" with different abilities into the collective intelligence network raises important questions.
• As AI permeates cognitive tasks, it may reshape how we conceptualize intelligence and what we value as uniquely human traits.
• Understanding the multifaceted impacts of AI integration on individual minds, human culture, and collective intelligence remains an open challenge and opportunity.

Imagine a scribe in ancient Sumer etching symbols onto a clay tablet with a newly designed stylus. This simple act—transferring thought to tangible medium—was revolutionary. By externalizing ideas, the Sumerians didn't just record information, they transformed the very concept of intelligence. The stylus and tablet, in essence, became extensions of the scribe's mind, broadening the scope of cognition and recalibrating what knowledge means. 

This evocative image parallels a groundbreaking idea by philosophers Andy Clark and David Chalmers from the late 20th century—the concept of the extended mind. They posited that our cognition doesn't halt at the boundaries of our skulls. Instead it spills over, intertwining with external objects or tools. 

We hold one idea above most others: aspirational AI should serve as a mind for our minds.