The Relation between Human and Artificial Intellect in the Light of Key Philosophical Concepts


Published: Ιουν 11, 2026
Updated: 2026-06-11
Keywords:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Artificial Generalized Intelligence (AGI) Necessity Mind Divine mind Chance
Markos Dendrinos
Abstract

This article examines the convergences and divergences between the human mind and the AI “mind” by drawing on historical philosophical accounts of the relationship between divine and human intellect. The relation conceived between the divine as creator and the human as created may offer insight into the present and future dynamics between human creators and AI systems. Elements such as governance, causality, chance, necessity, reduction, consciousness and unconscious serve as guiding posts in this intellectual journey through the thought of Anaxagoras, Plato, Democritus, the Stoics, Descartes, Leibniz, Nietzsche, Frege, Russell, Ramanujan, Gödel, Jung, Pauli and Monod. Should a fully mechanical and self-sufficient intelligent system remain beyond reach, a central criterion for distinguishing the human mind from the AI “mind” may be found in the capacity for genuine scientific discovery. The article concludes with a discussion of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), the horizon of possibilities it opens, as well as the ethical issues and potential dangers associated with its development.

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