While a widely accepted general theory of intelligence does not exist yet, the role of intelligence in all systems and domains is to reduce information entropy and to essentialize this in a form that enables further entropy reduction.
Historically, tasks are considered worthy when they invariably reduce information entropy within their respective domains or systems. A clean floor embodies a higher state of functional intelligence compared to an unclean one, just as a student who has grasped structured knowledge in a new domain exhibits a higher intelligence state than one who has not.
Following the hunter-gatherer era and the establishment of our physical and biological foundations, humanity began constructing an informational knowledge base in the form of language. Language can be seen as the essentialization of human cultural evolution. Through this medium, our species gained the ability to collectively distribute acquired knowledge and transmit it to future generations, directly influencing subsequent evolutionary movements.
The cultural evolution of humanity, initially essentialized through spoken language, progressively evolved through written word, printing, computer technology, and the internet. Now, it is being further essentialized via the fundamentally superior medium of AI. The unique characteristics of AI are enabling humanity to prepare for knowledge transfer to future generations at an unprecedented speed and scale. This signifies a dramatic acceleration in our ability to reduce information entropy, consequently accelerating human evolution. We may have already reached an evolutionary inflection point.
The current focus on this aspect stems from the necessity to reevaluate fundamental value creation methods in response to the unprecedented rate and scale of information entropy reduction facing humanity. Historically, humans have devised and maintained entropy-reducing strategies within specific domains or systems over generations to create value and generate wealth. This was feasible due to the relatively slow pace of entropy reduction. However, at the evolutionary inflection point, such value production methods may quickly become obsolete.
What previously retained value for a decade might now lose relevance within a day due to rapid entropy reduction. It’s imperative to align our approach to value creation with this accelerated evolutionary pace. We must redefine value in this new era and determine how to sustain it. If we can’t catch up to the moving train, we need to board it and move forward within it.
