Artificial and Human Intelligence: An Introduction and History
What the domain covers
This domain tests whether you can define artificial intelligence, distinguish it from human intelligence, place major milestones in order, and classify systems as narrow, general or superintelligent. It also examines the weak/strong AI distinction and why the Turing Test is a behavioural test rather than proof of consciousness.
Core concepts
- Human intelligence is broad: learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, language, social judgement, creativity and self-awareness. AI normally automates one or a few capabilities.
- A useful definition: AI is the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making and translation.
- Narrow AI (ANI) performs a defined task, sometimes beyond human level, but cannot transfer the skill freely. General AI (AGI) would match human flexibility across domains. Superintelligence (ASI) would exceed humans across the board. Only narrow AI exists in commercial use today.
- Weak AI is the engineering claim that machines can simulate intelligent behaviour. Strong AI is the philosophical claim that a suitably programmed machine can have a mind or consciousness. Separate behaviour from understanding.
- History anchors: Turing's 1950 paper and imitation game; the 1956 Dartmouth workshop, where the term 'artificial intelligence' was coined; the expert-system boom; AI winters; the deep-learning revival; Deep Blue (1997), Watson (2011) and AlphaGo (2016).
Worked example
A chatbot answers customer questions fluently but cannot plan a holiday or recognise that it is giving unsafe medical advice. Classify it. Reasoning: it performs one language task within a narrow domain; fluency does not imply general reasoning or understanding. It is narrow AI and, in the weak-AI sense, a simulation of conversational behaviour. It is not AGI, because it cannot transfer competence across domains, and not strong AI, because no evidence of consciousness is provided.
Traps that cost marks
- Do not equate human-like output with general intelligence or consciousness.
- The Turing Test measures indistinguishability in conversation; it does not prove understanding (compare Searle's Chinese Room).
- In exam usage, 'AI' usually means narrow AI, not robots or AGI.
- Dartmouth 1956, not Turing 1950, is the founding workshop.