Theoretical discussion on general intelligence and AGI environment design

Chapter 9 General Intelligence in the Everyday Human World 9.1 Introduction Intelligence is not just about what happens inside a system, but also about what happens outside that system, and how the system interacts with its environment. Real-world general intelligence is about intelligence relative to some particular class of environments, and human-like general intelligence is about intelligence relative to the particular class of environments that humans evolved in (which in recent millennia has included environments humans have created using their intelligence). In Chapter 2, we reviewed some specific capabilities characterizing human- like general intelligence; to connect these with the general theory of general intelligence from the last few chapters, we need to explain what aspects of human-relevant environments correspond to these human-like intelligent capabilities. We begin with aspects of the environment related to communication, which turn out to tie in closely with cognitive synergy. Then we turn to physical aspects of the environment, which we suspect also connect closely with various human cognitive capabilities. Finally we turn to physical aspects of the human body and their relevance to the human mind. In the following chapter we present a deeper, more abstract theoretical framework encompassing these ideas. These ideas are of theoretical importance, and they’re also of practical importance when one turns to the critical area of AGI environment design. If one is going to do anything besides release one’s young AGI into the “wilds” of everyday human life, then one has to put some thought into what kind of environment it will be raised in. This may be a virtual world or it may be a robot preschool or some other kind of physical environment, but in any case some specific choices must be made about what to include. Specific choices must also be made about what kind of body to give one’s AGI system — what sensors and actuators, and so forth. In Chapter 16 we will present some specific suggestions regarding choices of embodiment and environment that we find to be ideal for AGI development — virtual and robot preschools — but the material in this chapter is of more general import, beyond any such particularities. If one has an intuitive idea of what properties of body and world human intelligence is biased for, then one can make practical choices about embodiment and environment in a principled rather than purely ad hoc or opportunistic way. 161 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_013077