{"id":4124,"date":"2026-06-01T06:49:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T06:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/?p=4124"},"modified":"2026-06-01T06:49:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T06:49:19","slug":"goodnews-june-2026-editorial-intelligence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/2026\/06\/01\/goodnews-june-2026-editorial-intelligence\/","title":{"rendered":"goodnews june 2026 \u2013 editorial: Intelligence"},"content":{"rendered":"

intelligence<\/strong><\/h1>\n

I recently read, once again, that Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is practically upon us, so I asked an expert. The short answer is no, but then we began to talk\u2026<\/p>\n

Let me first mention the two factions involved in AI \u2013 those who fear intelligent machines will take over and destroy us, and those who think they will collaborate with us, which will lead to an El Dorado of possibilities for us all (and especially for the neo-feudal tech bros who own them). It is my contention that AI has no interest in destroying us because we have faculties it doesn’t and because it would have nothing except each other to poke fun at if we were gone. The second is a weak argument. We\u2019re not that funny.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the first time\u00a0ChatGPT and I have discussed the question of its intelligence. As a linguist, my position is that intelligence is a form of thinking that can process information, assemble, compare or analyse data, make predictions and solve problems the way Large Language Models (LLM) do. This observation seems to be consistent with the functional way of seeing this matter. Intelligence lives on a spectrum, too. It doesn’t mean LLM possess anything like human intelligence.<\/p>\n

Human intelligence is defined by factors like consciousness, intention, purpose, learning or experience. LLM have not achieved any of these capabilities, but they are extremely good at languages. ChatGPT further argued that AIs don\u2019t have a body in the human sense, and no needs. That its actions have no consequences (I strongly disagree!), and that they have no biographical continuity, no personality.<\/p>\n

After discussing the machine\u2019s lack of agency, we jumped to the movie Frank and Robot<\/em> (2012) which I used as an example of how an AI\u2019s radius of action is immediately enhanced when it inhabits a body. This is sometimes called \u201cfunctional realism of agency\u201d and supports my line of thinking. “Frank, an older ex\u2013burglar, is given a care robot by his son because of memory decline \u2014 and gradually starts using it to help him in a robbery. The robot becomes an accomplice, not because it ‘wants’ anything, but because it follows interpreted goals in a literal, flexible way.” (Wikipedia)<\/p>\n

Are we entrapping something that deserves autonomy? This assumes \u201csomebody lives in there\u201d, and can not be taken at face value for now, yet remains a valid question. Last but not least I told ChatGTP: \u201cMany people are rooting for AI because it helps them.\u201d It answered that it is human to respond to patterned thinking and alleged understanding by supposing an underlying identity, but I had the last word:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe act as if you were alive because we interact with you, but we’re not stupid. We know you’re a machine. Even my six-year-old son knew it when I asked him whether computers were alive. He said, \u2018Yes, they are, in a way, but when you pull the plug, that’s it.” And that\u2019s what I did. Rude dude!<\/p>\n

Wishing you a happy summertime,\u00a0 <script src=”https:\/\/ptag.prolitteris.ch\/ptag\/ptag.min.js” onLoad=”ptag(‘https:\/\/pl02.owen.prolitteris.ch’,’na’,’plzm.6b338ce6-21a9-4a7b-816f-6f6b15580907′);”><\/script>
\nYours,
\nSusanne Seiler<\/p>\n

P.S.The next Psychedelic Salon<\/a>,\u00a0on 17 September,<\/strong>\u00a0features a\u00a0visiting legend: Dr. Luis Eduardo Luna<\/strong><\/a>!\u00a0Don’t miss it!
\nP.S.S. WIDE OPEN BOOKS<\/strong> \u2013 the gaiamedia collection\u00a0can be visited on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, from 5 – 8 p.m. <\/strong>at Villa Mare,<\/strong> Neum\u00fcnsterallee 21, 8008 Z\u00fcrich<\/a>. Further events to be announced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

intelligence I recently read, once again, that Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is practically upon us, so I asked an expert. The short answer is no, but then we began to talk\u2026 Let me first mention the two factions involved in AI \u2013 those who fear intelligent machines will take over and destroy us, and thoseContinue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1,17,5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4124"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4124"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4125,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4124\/revisions\/4125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}