Three Ages and Three Intelligences: Exploit Explore Empower with Alison Gopnik

About this episode

Alison Gopnik discusses the different forms of intelligence across the lifespan and their implications for understanding human success.

A common model of AI suggests that there is a single measure of intelligence, often called AGI, and that AI systems are agents who can possess more or less of this intelligence. Cognitive science, in contrast, suggests that there are multiple forms of intelligence and that these intelligences trade-off against each other and have a distinctive developmental profile and evolutionary history. Exploitation, the pursuit of goals, resources and utilities, is characteristic of adult cognition. Alison Gopnik, professor of psychology and affiliate professor of philosophy at the UC Berkeley, and a member of the Berkeley AI Research Group, argues that two very different kinds of cognition characterize childhood and elderhood. Childhood is characterized by exploration. In particular, children seek out information about the world. However, forgoing reward for exploration requires support, care and teaching from others. Care and teaching are particularly characteristic of elders and the intelligence of care has a distinctive structure – it involves empowering others – giving them the resources they need to be effective. The combination of these different kinds of intelligence across the…

People in this episode

Guest: Alison Gopnik

Topics covered

• AI
• cognitive science
• intelligence
• childhood development
• elderhood

Keywords

• AGI
• exploitation
• exploration
• intelligence of care

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Exploit Explore Empower

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