Intelligencean

Intelligencean is a theoretical construct used in cognitive science and artificial intelligence to describe a general-purpose intelligent agent capable of autonomous learning and flexible problem solving across domains. Unlike narrow AI, which excels at specific tasks, an intelligencean is envisioned to adapt to new tasks with limited prior training, reason about uncertainties, plan over long horizons, and interact with humans and environments in natural ways.

Etymology: The term combines intelligence with the suffix -an to denote a kind or class, paralleling terms like guardian, botanist, or citizen. It is not a standard term in any single subfield but a conceptual label used in discussions of general intelligence and agent design.

Core features include generalization from limited data, meta-reasoning about which methods to apply, safety and value alignment mechanisms, transparent decision-making, and the ability to decompress goals into actionable plans. An intelligencean is expected to maintain performance across tasks and domains, while updating beliefs in light of new evidence.

Relation to other concepts: It is related to artificial general intelligence (AGI) and cognitive architectures, but is used more as a modeling construct than as a concrete technology. It can be used in thought experiments about capability, ethics, governance, and risk management.

Applications and challenges: In theory, intelligenceans could be used to evaluate the bounds of general intelligence, benchmark cross-domain learning, or inform policy on AI governance. In practice, defining metrics and ensuring alignment across diverse tasks remain major challenges.

Criticism: Some scholars argue that the term is vague or pedagogical, potentially obscuring practical limitations of current AI systems. Others warn that focusing on a generalized agent may lead to overestimation of capabilities or misapplication of safety measures.

See also: artificial general intelligence, cognitive architecture, AI alignment, AI safety.