On Defining the Intelligence of Behaviour and Machines

Abstract

Despite its merits the Turing test does not analyse in a practical way. The intelligence of psychologists is little better but consideration of psychological and neurological ideal experiments suggests that is judged on the basis of the decision-making in the chain 'input-decide-output'. We cannot separate any specific behaviour syndrome as 'intelligence'-display. Studying 'intellectual tasks' instead of 'intelligence' is little help since the criteria for identifying and assessing these are either anthropocentrically subjective or based on 'intelligence' itself. Intelligence is best seen as measuring the performance of the highest task selection and control mechanism in a machine. We cannot however escape the need to specify aims.