Essay: Intelligence

Past Competition

Competition has ended

Principles of Intelligence

Since psychologist Frank Rosenblatt published the first paper on trainable neural networks in 1957, humans have made significant advancements in technology, including the moon landing and the development of the internet and smart devices. However, despite these advancements, neural networks have not yet led to the creation of human-level artificial intelligence.

Therefore, we question whether the focus on neural networks is the right way to achieve human-level artificial intelligence, despite the at least at first glance impressive results, e.g. from Transformers, and we are looking for new ways. Hence, we posed the question:

Which fundamental principles of intelligence must be considered in the successful design of AI?

2nd Place

Maura Burke

winning CHF 1’000

1st Place

Simon Ouellette

winning CHF 2’000

3rd Place

Massimiliano Pavan

winning CHF 500

1st Place

Simon Ouellette

winning CHF 2’000

2nd Place

Maura Burke

winning CHF 1’000

3rd Place

Massimiliano Pavan

winning CHF 500

Evolution & Emergence

The 54 participants who submitted essays showcased the diversity of thoughts and ideas on fundamental principles of intelligence. In addition to common principles such as learning, abstraction, and reasoning, arguments were made for other aspects.

Several essays highlighted the importance of evolutionary approaches and compared the development of artificial intelligence to that of life on Earth. They pointed out that while life took billions of years to evolve, artificial intelligence can be developed much faster due to virtual simulations and the transfer of existing knowledge such as genetically and culturally inherited knowledge as well as all we know about our world and the universe today. However, care must be taken not to pass on incorrect information.

Another unresolved topic is that of emergence and how it relates to intelligence. Just as complexity arises from simple elements in the physical world, could it also be a key aspect of mental processes and intelligent behavior?

Below are the three winning essays and four additional outstanding essays that delve into these topics in depth. We thank all participants for their contributions and will further elaborate on the principles and topics proposed in the essays in the future. Let's work together to develop new approaches for the successful development of human-level AI!

Essay: Intelligence