The Other Intelligence

For or against Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Progress or danger… Innovation or regression… Opportunity or threat? Should we see it as the equivalent of an omniscient, versatile assistant, or as the harbinger of a “great replacement”? Such a polarization of the debate tends to sidestep a serious examination of the powers — not merely the immediate possibilities — engaged by such technologies. Beyond the economic and social issues — and the entirely legitimate concerns that accompany their rapid development — the challenge is also to understand what form of intelligence (from the Latin inter-, legere) we are dealing with here, its limits as well as its openings and its genuine contributions. This is where a “detour” through art and design can prove truly illuminating.