14. The Barrier of Meaning: Understanding in Humans and AI

This chapter from a book explores the "barrier of meaning" separating current AI from human-level intelligence, focusing on human understanding. It examines the building blocks of understanding, including innate and learned knowledge like intuitive physics, biology, and psychology, and the role of mental models and simulations in predicting future events and comprehending abstract concepts. The text highlights the importance of metaphor and analogy in forming abstract concepts, drawing upon psychological research demonstrating a link between physical and social warmth. Finally, it discusses the crucial role of abstraction and analogy in human cognition and their implications for future AI development.