Intelligence: The Quest for a Universal Assessment Framework

Consciousness is a phenomenon which can be extensively discussed as subjective or objective, structural or holistic, hierarchical or modular, but cannot be imagined without intelligence. There might be an intellect without consciousness, and this is the opinion of many domain specialists about artificial intelligence. But there is hardly any question of the impossibility of any consciousness without at least basic intellectual functions. It makes intelligence an important, crucial subject for evaluation in assessing any consciousness. There are inseparable steps and related problems in intelligence investigations, like those in the assessment of consciousness. There are inescapable questions about modularity and hierarchy of intelligence levels, possible types of intelligence and its emerging nature. The last question is closely related to the more fundamental question: What is intelligence? This categorical question is inevitably followed by a more detailed inquiry. If we discuss different types of intelligence, what makes them different, except for ontological classes? Is there a hierarchy, scale of levels, or types of intelligence that can be seen as sibling sub-classes? If intelligence possesses a universal quality, can we create a universal measurement scale of any kind of intelligence, regardless of its source? The universal scale or framework could have a profound utilitarian function. On the other hand, this solution is only partially possible, especially in the case of less universal, highly modular multiaxial intelligence. If this is so, the situation will require a number of specific scales designed for different types of intelligence. The appropriate design of such a framework will allow us to be precise in the intelligence evaluation and comparison, regardless of the type of intelligent agent and be potentially applicable to new types of agents. In this case, a universal scale can be constructed from sub-scales.