Date: Tue, 05 Nov 1996 21:58:48 GMT Server: NCSA/1.5 Content-type: text/html Last-modified: Sat, 31 Aug 1996 19:20:55 GMT Content-length: 1724 What is Intelligence?

Definitions of Intelligence

Forrest Gump:
Intelligent is as intelligent does
Institutional:
IQ, as measured by a standardized test
Gee-wiz:
Able to perform "hard" tasks, for example, chess
Douglas Adams:
The ability to reconcile contradictory information, such as simultaneously having a stomach-ache and not having a stomach-ache, or seeing a real-estate agent wave her fee [from his Infocom game, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]
Alan Turing:
The ability to fool us into thinking we're conversing (over an electronic link) with another human. The Loebner Prize competition is the first formal instantiation of Turing's test.
Robert Franklin, department head at the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan (ERIM):
Intelligence is the ability to pick the appropriate behavior for situations encountered in an environment.
My current definition:
Able to alter one's behavior in order to maximize the opportunities for reward
Comments? What do you think? Send me a comment form, or send me e-mail.

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finton@cs.wisc.edu, March 30, 1996