In the book AI: The Tumultuous History of the Search for Artificial Intelligence by Daniel Crevier, Crevier brings up an interesting question: what is common to all forms of intelligence?  When we do eventually develop artificial intelligence, it will surely not be exactly the same as human intelligence.  And if do eventually meet some alien race, their intelligence would probably be different.  What aspects of the mind are required for intelligence to come about?  What would be common between these different types of intelligence and what would be different.

One interesting example is the android Data on the TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation.  He is an artifically intelligent lifeform, yet he has no emotions.  Is it possible to be intelligent without emotions?  Could intelligence develop on its own without them?  Emotions are important for motivation, in the book I just read, Creating Mind: How the Brain Works by John Dowling, Dowling says “Without emotions, why bother?” It’s very true that emotions are the driving forces behind our lives and I can’t imagine we would ever have developed into the intelligent beings we are today without them.