there is no intelligent algorithm that outperforms random search on most problems; this profound result is called the No Free Lunch Theorem.
I am not familiar with the context of this theorem, but I believe that this is a grave misinterpretation. From a brief reading, my impression is that the theorem says something like “you cannot find useful patterns in random data; and if you take all possible data, most of them are (Kolmogorov) random”.
This is true, but it is relevant only for situations where any data is equally likely. Our physical universe seems not to be that kind of place. (It is true that in a completely randomly behaving universe, intelligence would not be possible, because any action or belief would have the same chance of being right or wrong.)
When I think about superintelligent machines, I imagine ones that would outperform humans in this universe. The fact that they would be equally helpless in a universe of pure randomness doesn’t seem relevant to me. Saying that an AI is not “truly intelligent” unless it can handle the impossible task of skillfully navigating completely random universes… that’s trying to win a debate by using silly criteria.
I am not familiar with the context of this theorem, but I believe that this is a grave misinterpretation. From a brief reading, my impression is that the theorem says something like “you cannot find useful patterns in random data; and if you take all possible data, most of them are (Kolmogorov) random”.
This is true, but it is relevant only for situations where any data is equally likely. Our physical universe seems not to be that kind of place. (It is true that in a completely randomly behaving universe, intelligence would not be possible, because any action or belief would have the same chance of being right or wrong.)
When I think about superintelligent machines, I imagine ones that would outperform humans in this universe. The fact that they would be equally helpless in a universe of pure randomness doesn’t seem relevant to me. Saying that an AI is not “truly intelligent” unless it can handle the impossible task of skillfully navigating completely random universes… that’s trying to win a debate by using silly criteria.