The Science of Meaning: Why AI Enhances, But Can Never Replace, Human Intelligence

In edition #8:

Since writing The Augmented Human I have argued and deeply felt that when machines outthink us, what makes us human is the capacity to create meaning and to connect with each other. Writing has become a way to connect with others who push my thinking further - something I'm deeply thankful for. After last week's piece on body intelligence, someone shared John Vervaeke's work with me - a goldmine of insights that's already helping me dig deeper into just how humans create meaning. This week's post builds on those insights to show what cognitive science reveals about the fundamental difference between human and artificial intelligence.

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The Embodied Difference: Science Reveals Why Human Intelligence Will Always Differ From AI

I have previously argued that when machines outthink us what makes us human is the capacity to create meaning. I've also argued that outthinking us is a good thing - possibly the best thing that has ever happened to humankind (as long as AI is aligned with human values). Now, being introduced to the work of John Vervaeke I see how cognitive science demonstrates that meaning-making isn't just poetically different from computation - they are fundamentally distinct processes.

The Nature of Meaning

Vervaeke reveals how meaning emerges from what he calls 'relevance realization' - our ability to zero in on what matters in any given context. Relevance realization represents a cognitive function distinct from anything we might replicate in machines. It emerges from our existence as biological beings. This embodied nature becomes clear when we consider the role of caring. To care about something is to find it relevant, to invest our cognitive and emotional resources in it, and to allow it to shape our actions and understanding of the world. Vervaeke shows how caring shapes what he calls our 'salience landscape' - determining what stands out as significant in our field of attention. Our emotions and care direct us toward what matters, creating the very possibility of meaning itself.

Embodied Intelligence

In my recent exploration of design in the age of algorithmic intelligence, I observed how our embodied intelligence - our ability to feel, sense, and know through our bodies - becomes more valuable as algorithmic thinking becomes commodified. This intuitive knowing, accessed through the body, offers wisdom that computation can't replicate. Vervaeke's framework explains why this matters: intuitive knowing isn't a romantic notion but a fundamental aspect of how humans create meaning. No amount of computation can replicate this because, as Descartes understood centuries ago, meaning isn't inherent in symbols or their manipulation - it emerges from the living, caring mind that gives those symbols significance.

Extended Cognition

The 4E's of cognitive science show how human cognition emerges from being embodied biological beings, embedded within environments, enacting with our world, and extending our capabilities through tools. This last aspect - extended cognition - points to where AI naturally fits in our cognitive evolution.

Throughout history, humans have developed psycho-technologies - tools like language and numeracy that allow us to engage with information and the world in ways that transcend our unaided brains. These aren't merely external tools but ones that become deeply integrated into our cognitive processes, shaping how we think, perceive, and interact with the world.

I now believe AI represents the next frontier of extended cognition. Will it prove as influential as language itself? We will have to see. My view is that understanding AI as belonging to the 'extended' aspect of cognition shows how natural it is to integrate it into our meaning-making. Yet this integration will influence humankind in totality. I have said before that AI will contribute to the evolution of our species. The frameworks of cognitive science substantiate why and how this might unfold.

This understanding reveals something profound about the nature of AI and human intelligence. While AI can surpass our raw computational abilities, it remains fundamentally different because it lacks the embodied capacity for meaning-making. This isn't a limitation but a clarification. AI represents a new kind of cognitive partnership - one where computational power is a tool that amplifies our distinctly human capacity to create meaning - rather than attempting to replicate it. The idea isn't to make AI more human-like, but to develop it in ways that extend and enhance our uniquely human capabilities, as other psycho-technologies like language have before it. AI sharpens our human intelligence while at the same time reshaping what it means to be human - driving our evolution forward.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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