It can interpret ancient manuscripts that have baffled experts, predict the weather, identify cancer symptoms that doctors sometimes overlook, and even help us understand how animals communicate. Artificial intelligence (AI) has progressed to the point where, in many ways, it’s more fascinating to study what it can’t accomplish.
Even with AI’s ability to change the world, computers are still inferior to the human mind in a variety of jobs. Even neural networks, which are algorithms designed to mimic how the human brain operates, are relatively.
“What gives us such big advantages over AI systems is a grand mystery in the study of intelligence,” says Xaq Pitkow, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University who focuses on the relationship between AI and neuroscience. “The brain has a lot of deep neurological structures related to different functions and tasks, like memory, values, movement pattens, sensory perception and more.” These mental models enable our thoughts to shift between different modes of thought in order to address various types of challenges. For now, that’s what sets people apart from machines.
