Intellectual progress by ever increasing
resemblance, or ever increasing resolvement.[1]
It is a curious paradox that we shall
become more perfect by the realization of our perfection as constituting an
imperfection when we consider ourselves as wholes or as autonomous. If and when
we regain our balance in the world our perfection will be manifest but
uninteresting to ourselves.
See Rosalind Williams, Notes on the
Underground. p. 3: We are more likely to admire a technological environment
when it replaces nature completely.
[1] In 1950 Alan Turing devised a test from which an accepted definition of artificial intelligence was proposed:
Suppose there are two identical terminals in a room,
one connected to a computer, and the other operated remotely by a person. If
someone using the two terminals is unable to decide which is connected to the
computer, and which is operated by the person, then the computer can be
credited with intelligence. (Bishop, 1987, p. 57).
From this test the following definition of artificial intelligence can be derived:
Artificial intelligence is the science of making
machines do things that would require intelligence if done by people.(Bishop, 1987, p.57).