AI Is Neither Artificial nor Intelligent Kate Crawford (2022)

AI is neither artificial nor intelligent.

Rather, artificial intelligence is both embodied and material, made from natural resources, fuel, human labor, infrastructures, logistics, histories, and classifications.

AI systems are not autonomous, rational, or able to discern anything without extensive, computationally intensive training with large datasets or predefined rules and rewards.

Credit: Kate Crawford

Comment: I respectfully disagree with the claim that “AI is neither artificial nor intelligent.” While it's true that AI depends on physical infrastructure, human labor, and training data—highlighting its material and social entanglements—this doesn’t negate the fact that it is both artificial and a form of intelligence.

AI is artificial in the most literal sense: it’s a human-created system that does not arise organically in nature. And while it’s not intelligent in the same way humans are, that doesn’t mean it lacks intelligence entirely. Intelligence exists on a spectrum. As I’ve explored here, defining intelligence too narrowly—by only comparing it to human cognition—blinds us to the many forms intelligence can take, both natural and artificial. AI systems can solve problems, adapt to new inputs, and perform tasks that require a form of non-human reasoning. That, by any fair definition, qualifies as a form of intelligence.

Source: Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence.

Tags: artificial intelligence (52) | intelligence (23)

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