By Howard Gardner
A recent article (link here) by John Anderer asks “Are we growing more dumber?” [sic]. Many readers will have seen similar headlines. The fact that people can drop on some dimensions but not on others shows that IQ is not a single monolith. The finding should not surprise anyone who is sympathetic to “MI perspectives.” After all, there is no reason to think that when one measure of intelligence goes up—or goes down—the others will necessarily move in the same direction as well.
As this article points out, around the world IQ has been rising steadily over recent decades, especially on spatial measures—presumably because our lives are enmeshed is various kinds of visual and technological entities, most of which call on spatial capacities. As we live in a world that is increasingly enmeshed in “artificial intelligence,” devices, and algorithms, we can expect similar shifts in profiles of intelligence.
What will algorithms like ChatGPT do to our personal intelligences? For now, this remains a topic for speculation—if not science fiction—but for how long is difficult to assess. We may decide to attribute personal knowledge to algorithms; we may decide to deny them that form of knowledge; or the algorithms may make their own decision!
Photo by ALAN DE LA CRUZ on Unsplash