Maybe we don’t need Artificial Intelligence, but instead Wicked Intelligence or Social Intelligence?

Happy new year. I imagine that most people feel like there wasn’t anywhere near enough talk about AI in 2024, and their big hope for 2025 is lots more AI talk. Did I get that wrong? Oh well. Here is some more anyway: Artificial Intelligence is a really, really annoying term. Firstly, most of us aren’t quite sure what intelligence means anyway, and its difference from other concepts like consciousness, sentience, agency. Second, it’s a bit ambiguous what counts as Artificial Intelligence. This allows companies to ‘AI-wash’ their offerings, claiming that they have AI in them, even if that is basically just (advanced) analytics. Third, AI is a moving feast. When I was a kid, being to dictate into a word processor was called AI. Now it probably isn’t. Fourth, the term AI makes us think too much about making computers behave like humans, rather than just solve really, really challenging and useful problems.  The fourth problem is made even worse by the term Artificial General Intelligence - AI being able to switch between domains, and behave a bit more like a human. Which may not be the most important goal, other than in specific domains like personal care robots/ companions, and Sci Fi movies. So, what is a better term and concept than AI? Here’s an idea: I was revisiting the fascinating world of Wicked Problems and Social Messes recently. Coined by smart social scientists who observed that some problems are not like classical logical/ scientific problems, and aren’t susceptible to the same form of problem solving. With hard scientific problems, often the problem and the goal are modular and separate from other problems, very clear and well understood. The set of operations usable to solve them defined and limited. Easy and safe to test potential solutions. Not related to ethics, morals or values. Contrast that with problems like climate change, poverty, obesity, narcotics. Hard to agree what they are/ what their exact scope is, what the causes are, what the set of potential solutions/ actions is. Problems are inextricably connected to each other. Hard to safely test solutions. There isn’t a final solution, only making things gradually better. Everything highly contextual. Lots of ethical, moral, values angles. Solving a wicked problem is more like an ongoing dialogue, a negotiation, a dance,  less like a linear project lifecycle. I wonder if we should aim more for Wicked Intelligence or Social Intelligence – the ability to use computers to autonomously address and make progress in solving Wicked Problems? (And not necessarily in the ways humans do.) I wish everyone a wicked 2025. #Unthink #Unask #Unlearn #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #WickedIntelligence #SocialIntelligence