Evolving Smarter Businesses: Key Lessons from Human Intelligence
Inspired by Max Bennett's 'A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains'
Intelligence Evolution
“It took billions of years before life could simply sense and respond to its environment. It took another five hundred million years of tinkering with brains to get good at motor skills and navigation, and only after all of this work did language and logic appear.”
-Rodney Brooks, co-founder of iRobot, former director of MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL)
In other words, start with simple brains and add complexity from there.
What is intelligence?
Intelligence is the ability to learn, understand, apply knowledge, solve problems, adapt, think abstractly, and make accurate predictions. However, it didn't start this way; intelligence evolved over billions of years from early life forms to humans today. This evolution involved multiple innovations building upon each other, enabling humans to develop complex societies, harness technology, and explore the world around us.
In “A Brief History of Intelligence”, Max Bennett explores the evolutionary journey of human intelligence, breaking it down into five key innovations that transformed our ability to adapt, learn, and thrive. As someone who thinks a lot about future intelligent systems, I believe understanding these milestones offers valuable insights into designing systems capable of navigating the complexities of modern corporate decision-making.
The five breakthroughs below reveal the secrets to human intelligence and can guide us in creating smarter, more adaptable, and efficient company structures that harness the strengths of both human and artificial intelligence.
Breakthrough 1: Steering- Basic Reflex and Valence (Bilaterian Foundation)
The first breakthrough involved the development of basic reflexes and valence responses (pleasure or pain reactions). These allowed early bilaterian organisms (simple, worm-like creatures with symmetrical bodies) to react to their environment without complex cognitive processes. Reflexes are automatic responses to stimuli, while valence refers to the attractiveness or aversiveness of an event or object (driven by dopamine and serotonin). These basic mechanisms enabled survival through instinctual actions, such as moving towards food when hungry and away from predators when in danger.
Organizational Application: Harnessing the Power of Dopamine and Serotonin
Dopamine- Inspired Automation: Implement automated systems to handle routine tasks efficiently, providing immediate, positive feedback and streamlining repetitive processes. (i.e. Inventory management systems that automatically reorder stock when levels are low, ensuring product availability and preventing stockouts.)
Serotonin-Inspired Human Oversight: Emulate serotonin's role in decision-making and emotional regulation by ensuring managers provide strategic direction, foster collaboration, and integrate contextual information to make informed decisions. Utilize human managers to oversee tasks that require judgment, strategic thinking, and emotional intelligence.
Benefits:
Free employees from routine tasks to focus on complex, high-value problems
Enhance efficiency and productivity
Improve employee satisfaction and engagement
Breakthrough 2: Reinforcing- Model Free Learning (Vertebrate Addition Structure)
The second breakthrough introduced model-free learning, where behaviours are shaped by previous rewards or punishments without an underlying model of the environment. This type of learning, seen in vertebrates, allows organisms to adapt through trial and error, relying on the reinforcement of behaviours that lead to positive outcomes and the suppression of those results in negative consequences.
Organizational Application: Unlocking the Power of Model-Free Learning
Optimize Processes with AI: Use AI models that learn from historical data and real-time feedback to enhance decision-making and efficiency
Implement Recommendation Systems: Use recommendation models, like those employed by Amazon, Netflix, and Spotify, to suggest products, services, or solutions based on customer behaviour and preferences, increasing accuracy and customer satisfaction over time.
Reinforcement Learning for Continuous Improvement: Use reinforcement learning algorithms to adapt and improve performance through trial and error, using rewards and punishments to refine interactions and outcomes (e.g., chatbots that learn from successful and unsuccessful responses to improve customer service).
Balancing Exploration and Exploitation: Implement AI systems that balance exploration of new opportunities with maximizing known advantages, allowing organizations to innovate and optimize simultaneously.
Credit Assignment for Accountability: Ensure actions are correctly linked to outcomes over time, mimicking the brain's ability to assign credit to the right thing, and enabling organizations to make informed decisions and optimize processes.
Benefits:
Enhance decision-making and efficiency
Improve customer satisfaction and loyalty
Increase adaptability and responsiveness
Breakthrough 3: Simulating- Advanced Planning and Internal Simulation (Neocortex)
The third breakthrough enabled advanced planning and internal simulation, allowing organisms to think ahead and predict outcomes. This capability involves setting and pursuing goals based on predicted results and mentally simulating different scenarios to determine the best course of action. The neocortex plays a crucial role in this cognitive function, supporting higher-order thinking and decision-making.
Early mammals developed the neocortex, allowing them to create a mental model of the world. The prefrontal cortex allowed them to form intentions and plan actions. Together with the sensory neocortex, it enabled them to engage in System 2 thinking—pausing to think through different scenarios. This model-based learning allowed them to imagine future actions, evaluate potential outcomes, and make better decisions.
Organizational Application: Leveraging Advanced Planning and Internal Simulation
Predictive Analytics on Future Outcomes: Utilize historical data, market trends, and customer behaviours to forecast potential outcomes to enable informed strategic decisions and proactive risk mitigation.
Strategic Planning, Goal Setting & Simulate Outcomes: Adopt a neocortex-inspired approach to setting and pursuing goals based on predicted outcomes. Create powerful simulations using diverse data sources, advanced machine learning models, and real-time feedback loops, engaging in System 2 thinking to make better decisions.
Human-AI Culture of Simulation: Combine human intuition with AI's computational power to generate more accurate and insightful simulations. Encourage a culture where simulation-based decision-making is the norm.
Benefits:
Enhances strategic decision-making
Improves risk mitigation
Ensures adaptability, responsiveness, and profitability
Breakthrough 4: Mentalizing- Theory of Mind (Granular Prefrontal Cortex)
The fourth breakthrough is the ability to understand the thoughts, intentions, and beliefs of others, known as the theory of mind. This means we can think about thinking, which helps us predict and interpret other people's behaviour. Plato's idea was that we first understand our own minds and then use that knowledge to understand others, a concept called simulation theory or social projection theory. This advanced social skill relies on the granular prefrontal cortex.
Organizational Application: Unlocking the Power of Theory of Mind
Foster a Culture of Empathy and Understanding: Train leaders and team members to appreciate each other's perspectives, promoting empathy, trust, and effective collaboration
Implement Human-Centric AI: Develop AI systems that can understand and anticipate user needs and preferences, while also acknowledging the importance of human empathy and emotional intelligence in customer service and relations.
Balance Prediction with Empathy: Combine AI with empathetic understanding to create a more comprehensive approach to customer service, leadership, and collaboration, leading to increased satisfaction, loyalty, and overall success.
Benefits:
Enhances teamwork and collaboration
Improves customer relations
Increases satisfaction and loyalty
Breakthrough 5: Speaking- Language and Communication (Primate Structure)
The final breakthrough enabled the efficient communication of complex ideas and the coordination of actions through language. This development has been crucial for the formation of larger, cooperative societies. Language allows for the sharing of knowledge, the building of culture, and the collaboration needed for complex problem-solving.
Organizational Application: Unlocking the Power of Language and Communication
Streamline Internal Communications: Use cutting-edge language models like ChatGPT, Claude or LLaMA to facilitate clearer and more efficient communication among teams and departments, reducing misunderstandings, and improving collaboration.
Enhance External Communications: Implement conversational AI agents and virtual assistants to improve customer service, provide personalized support, and enhance overall customer experience.
Achieve Coordinated Action to Enhance Operations: Imagine a swarm of robots functioning like a hive mind, amplifying abilities through coordinated actions. These robots can work together to achieve business objectives in a distributed manner, seamlessly coordinating in groups of unrestricted size. This kind of choreography will redefine productivity, surpassing the limitations of current team structures and middle management.
Benefits:
Enhance Team Collaboration
Deliver Personalized Customer Experiences
Boost Productivity and Efficiency
Key Takeaways
Intelligence evolved over billions of years, from basic reflexes in early life forms to complex human cognition. Max Bennett's "A Brief History of Intelligence" reveals five evolutionary milestones that can revolutionize business operations. By harnessing the power of:
Basic reflexes: Streamline with automation
Model-free learning: Adapt through trial and error
Advanced planning: Strategize with predictive forecasting & counterfactuals
Theory of mind: Lead with empathy & deliver personalized experiences
Language: Communicate effectively, augment tasks & coordinate work seamlessly
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