On Authentic and Functional Intelligence

Discussions about the possibilities and limitations of the various approaches to the development of intelligent systems are too often based on vague concepts and assumptions. Intelligence is usually considered only in terms of behaviour; we point out that no behaviour can be considered "really intelligent" independently of its motivations. In this context, we introduce the concepts of authentic and functional intelligence; we put forward the Care thesis and discuss the controversial Background thesis. We claim that computation does not seem to be a plausible way towards the authentic intelligence; on the other hand, computational systems do offer virtually unlimited possibilities to replicate (and to surpass) human cognitive abilities at the functional level.