In the Age of Artificial Intelligence, Do We Still Have the Courage to Ask What Human Intelligence Really Is?

Artificial intelligence seems to be getting smarter and smarter, and can do more and more things. But apart from the scientists in this field, it seems no one truly understands how all of this has developed. Today I want to analyze this phenomenon from the most traditional perspective of educational psychology, and see what “intelligence” actually is in what people call driving the development of artificial intelligence.

When studying Education, one educational psychologist you cannot avoid is Vygotsky. His academic achievements are still the main theoretical source for teacher-training methodologies of governments around the world today. So what was his answer to the question “What is the essence of human intellectual development?”

When you were a small child, through constant trying and repetition, you slowly learned to use a spoon, and you became able to hold a cup of water steady. Vygotsky called this ability to use tools—practical intelligence. It seems that learning means a great deal of repetition, and even as adults we keep using this same method of learning. For example, when learning English or tennis, we repeat continuously until we master the skill. Does this mean that human intelligence is finding patterns in repetition?

But we all know that in reality, adults and children, especially young children, learn in completely different ways. Comparing teaching methods in kindergartens and universities makes this obvious at a glance. And the biggest variable between these two groups, children and adults, is the difference in language ability, that is, the difference in the ability to use symbols.

Vygotsky held that when humans begin to use language, that is, begin to use symbols, another form of intelligence appears, namely pure intelligence. So once a child begins to use language, the child possesses both the practical intelligence of using tools and the pure intelligence of being able to use symbols.

Based on these two concepts, Vygotsky gave his answer to what human intelligence is. He believed that when practical intelligence and pure intelligence act at the same time, that is, when a person's practical activity and language converge, human intelligence arises. In other words, when we integrate language, or the use of symbols, into our behavior, our external behavior is reshaped. Yes, language shapes our behavior, and ultimately shapes our reality.

Now step out of the theory for a moment and think carefully about whether this is really how things are in reality. As adults, before we take action, we certainly first think using language as a tool, and the more complex the task, the longer the path of thinking. For example, writing a degree thesis involves a long process from planning to completion, whereas the decision-making process for what to eat for breakfast is very short.

This explains why psychology advocates giving oneself positive psychological suggestions: language does indeed shape reality through behavior. When you do not even dare to think of something, you naturally cannot take the corresponding action to shape the reality you want to shape. And a child's learning process is one of constantly upgrading and optimizing their own practical abilities, through the learning of language and physiological development, in order to shape the realities they want.

Have you noticed that small children are generally very noisy? If you observe carefully, when they play, they are always chattering non-stop, and most of what they say is related to the behavior they are carrying out. This is because they are using the coordinated action of language, vision, and hands to solve practical problems. This unity of perception, speech, and action ultimately forms the internalization of the visual field. If young children are restricted from using language, they may be unable to complete a given task.

The role of language in helping a child achieve a goal is as important as behavior. At the beginning, language merely describes. When the task is more complex and the goal harder to achieve, language begins to analyze and plan. The more complex the task, the more language continues to increase, and the more important the role of language becomes. Children use language to formulate a plan and then carry it out, making their actions more purposeful. Language and behavior are in fact two components of the same higher mental function, jointly directed at solving the problem at hand. Language also frees humans from linear thinking, enabling them to go beyond the existing environment and formulate more detailed plans, so that the connection between behavior and goal is full of more possibilities. Because humans possess intelligence, different people can solve the same problem in different ways.

In summary, when we can achieve the unity of knowing and doing, that is, when we can use language as a tool for thinking and take corresponding action, and when language and behavior are highly unified, we possess intelligence. And at the present stage, artificial intelligence, in the matter of large language models, is imitating this very process of how human pure intelligence arises.