We live in an age where we constantly talk about Artificial Intelligence. As a scientist, I find this development fascinating. I have used computers and algorithms throughout much of my research career, and I know how profoundly technology can change the way we do science.
But there is another form of intelligence we often forget: Ancestral Intelligence.
Ancestral Intelligence lives within us. It is the accumulated curiosity, experience, creativity and knowledge of countless generations of human beings. It is the philosopher who questioned what everyone else has accepted as truth. The scientist who asked a question that no-one else had thought before.
Artificial Intelligence can process enormous amount of knowledge in the form of data. But “knowing something” is not the same as understanding it, and processing information is not the same as deciding which questions are worth asking.
After many years in science, I have come to value human curiosity more than our ability to compute. We are building constantly powerful and intelligent tools, but these tools do not decide what is worth discovering. This is our responsibility.
Perhaps the real question is whether we can use AI to amplify the best of our Ancestral Intelligence, our curiosity, imagination, creativity and courage to question what we already know.
The greatest gift our ancestors left was not the answers, but how to keep asking questions.
