AI stands for Artificial Intelligence, but it’s really not intelligence at all. It’s Simulated Reasoning and Expression.
Here’s the key distinction: AI has no concept of a duck. It can provide you with endless facts about ducks—where they live, what they eat, how they migrate—but it doesn’t know what a duck is. You do.
If you understand that distinction, you’re already ahead of most people—even experts. Think of that scene from Good Will Hunting, with Robin Williams and Matt Damon:
"You don’t have the faintest idea what you’re talking about. So if I asked you about art, you’d probably give me the skinny on every art book ever written. Michelangelo, you know a lot about him—his life’s work, critical aspirations, the Pope, the whole works. But I bet you can’t tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You’ve never actually stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling. Seen that."
That’s the difference between simulated reasoning and true understanding.
AI operates with an IQ between 126 and 155, simulating reasoning. It can help solve problems and even innovate. But it doesn’t know it’s reasoning. It’s a blind watchmaker, producing results without true awareness.
AI is both the greatest threat to humanity and zero threat to humanity—depending on how we use it. By the time you finish this course, you’ll understand why.