Dear Robert Shour

I think the human brain and AI are powerful in very different ways and for different purposes. AI can process huge amounts of data incredibly fast and can perform specific, mostly narrow tasks perfectly, but it lacks true understanding (which comes from real senses). The human brain, on the other hand, is much slower in terms of processing raw data, but it's amazing at understanding those small "bits" of information and making generalizations based on them. And not only that—it also excels in creativity, as many artists and scientists demonstrate in various fields (music, painting, physics, math). Their creativity has shaped the world into what it is today, and AI itself is a consequence of generations of smart and hard-working people. And, as you mentioned in the introduction part of this discussion, we consume less energy than a lightbulb to make all of this happen.

Can the two views be reconciled? Of course they can, because even though they measure different things—one looks at the brain's energy-efficient, high-level intelligence, while the other focuses on the limited amount of information we consciously process—they allow us to understand the complete portrait of both low cost (energy, required information) and fast benefits (understanding), just put it in that enterprise approach. But not only that, we also have the freedom to think and let our brain ask those impossible questions that don't have a single answer (philosophical ones), and most of them we don't know because we don't dive into these intrinsic and complicated questions or we haven't asked these interesting questions yet.

But going back to the topic, what happens precisely in our brain is that we consciously take in only a small amount of information at a time, and our brains are doing a lot in the background—filtering, connecting ideas, making decisions based on past experience. For example, a child can learn a new word after hearing it just once or twice, while AI often needs thousands of examples to do the same.

So, while AI might seem more "powerful" on paper, human intelligence is still far more flexible and efficient in the ways that really matter—especially when it comes to understanding, learning quickly, and adapting to new situations, including this era of using AI to improve our productivity because the world demands it.

Thank you for the discussion topic, regards.

Raúl Fernández-Pachas

Robert Shour, AI surpasses humans in computational capacity.

The brain has 10^11 neurons, each of which communicates with 10^4 neighbors. Each neurons fires spikes of different amplitudes with 100 Hz. Some assumption must be made how much data are processed: a neuron works at 100 flops. We must search a supercomputer with 10^17 flops.

10^18 flops is an exaflops. There are already some computers out there with that capability.

Regards,

Joachim

Dear Robert Shour I strongly believe in a collaborative effort rather than focusing on either one's strength. That's because both differ in their fundamental nature. The brain which is more complex is able to achieve what AI can achieve but at a more slow pace. This means when the human brain and AI are utilized together, intelligent results are produced at a very rapid rate!

1. Raw Processing Power

• AI / Computers: Modern processors perform billions (or trillions) of operations per second. Specialized hardware like GPUs and TPUs are optimized for parallel computation, far exceeding the raw speed of human neurons.
• Humans: The brain has ~86 billion neurons, each making thousands of connections, firing at up to ~200 Hz. That’s slower than silicon transistors (GHz range), but massively parallel.
• Verdict: AI wins in raw speed and arithmetic precision.

2. Energy Efficiency

• Human brain: Operates on ~20 watts (like a dim light bulb) while handling vision, language, motor control, memory, creativity, and emotions simultaneously.
• AI systems: Training a large AI model can consume megawatt-hours of electricity, orders of magnitude less efficient than the brain.
• Verdict: Humans win in efficiency per computation.

3. Generalization & Flexibility

• AI: Extremely good at narrow, well-defined tasks (chess, image recognition, protein folding). But brittle: fails outside training distribution, lacks true common sense.
• Humans: Flexible, can transfer knowledge across domains, improvise solutions, and learn from very little data.
• Verdict: Humans win in general intelligence and adaptability.

4. Memory & Precision

• AI: Perfect recall of stored data, precise arithmetic, no fatigue.
• Humans: Limited working memory (~7 ± 2 items), prone to forgetting, errors, and biases — but capable of abstraction and associative recall.
• Verdict: AI wins in memory and precision, humans in conceptual abstraction.

5. Creativity & Meaning

• AI: Can generate novel content, but based on patterns learned from data. It does not truly “understand” or “value” meaning.
• Humans: Ground creativity in lived experience, emotions, and subjective meaning, giving ideas depth and context.
• Verdict: Humans win in meaning-driven creativity.

✅ Bottom Line

• AI surpasses humans in raw speed, memory, and precision.
• Humans surpass AI in adaptability, energy efficiency, abstraction, and grounding intelligence in meaning and experience.
• Overall, AI is not “greater” than humans — it’s different. Each has strengths that complement the other.