Thomas Christaller
Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems
Sankt Augustin, Germany.

What does Artificial Intelligence tell us about Natural Intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence started from a very naive understanding how to
make computer systems as intelligent as people are. But the more
powerful computers and especially  software were built the more open
questions of the whole endeavor were posed forward. What are the
basics of intelligence? Is a body a necessity? When a technical
system seems to be intelligent how intelligent is it really? And
finally: What is intelligence and why does it exist? Where does
intelligence pay-off either in humans or in technical systems? The
thread of argumentation will be that there must have been profound
reasons why intelligence came into being during the evolution of homo
sapiens. One way is to simulate models from natural, cognitive, and
brain sciences for a better understanding of human intelligence. But
it is a completely different story to construct artificial systems
which are intelligent. While they shouldn't aim to mimick or emulate
every aspect of a human, we have to select the principles underlying
human intelligence and we have to make them work in the technical
realm. The talk closes with a discussion of possible consequences in
constructing truly artificial intelligent systems.