[raddan]

I’m not sure the emphasis is quixotic. I would prefer to say myopic, but the myopia is understandable: human intelligence is the only intelligence we have any firsthand experience with.

One of the things I love about computer science is that it forces us to devise definitions—working definitions at least—so that we can move forward. What is intelligence? Turns out we don’t really know. What we do know about are TASKS or PROBLEMS, and that certain kinds of machines are more or less suited for certain problems. A human intelligence is one that can solve a large range of problems, but often only with training. Is the human mind a mechanism that we can replicate or is it something more? We don’t know. Are there other kinds of intelligence? Is intelligence just a matter of definition? We don’t know.

Personally, I think it is an exciting time to be alive, because these questions are no longer merely philosophical. And we finally have the ability to start answering them scientifically.