Synthetic Intelligence (SI) is changing the game of business by disrupting industries and reshaping markets. If “data is the new oil” then Synthetic Intelligence spans the value chain from the oil well to the internal combustion engine!
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We have chosen the term “Synthetic Intelligence” because SI accurately encapsulates the idea that is signified by the term “Artificial General Intelligence”.
The philosopher John Haugeland introduced the term “Synthetic Intelligence” (SI) and differentiated it from “Artificial Intelligence” (AI) with reference to an analogy between artificial diamonds and synthetic diamonds. Cubic zirconia (the cubic crystalline form of zirconium dioxide (ZrO2)) looks like a diamond from a distance and is called an artificial diamond. However, Cubic zirconia is not truly a diamond because its chemical composition and molecular structure differ from that of a diamond (i.e., a metastable allotrope of carbon). In contrast, a synthetic diamond (or cultured diamond) is a diamond that is produced via an industrial process. It is every bit as “real” as a diamond that is produced by geological processes because it has an identical chemical composition and molecular structure as a mined diamond.
Philosophically, SI is a more accurate description of what the term AI (which includes machine learning, deep learning, reinforcement learning) stands for. Artificial implies something that is not “real” but ML, DL, and RL are real since they exist in the real world, impact reality in many ways, and do many kinds of real work.
Synthetic implies something that is created by intelligent agency rather than by undirected natural process and thus SI is a more appropriate category for Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and Reinforcement Learning.
