Task 9 Flashcards
What is collective intelligence (CI)?
The ability of groups to combine knowledge, insights, and problem-solving skills to achieve better outcomes than individuals alone.
What are examples of collective intelligence in real life?
Medical diagnostics (teams of doctors make better decisions).
Meteorology (collaborative weather predictions).
Business and science (research teams solving complex problems).
How is collective intelligence different from individual intelligence?
It emerges from group interactions rather than a single brain’s cognitive ability.
What is the wisdom-of-the-crowd effect?
The idea that aggregating diverse and independent judgments can produce highly accurate estimates.
What factors improve the accuracy of crowd-based decisions?
Diversity of opinions (avoids groupthink).
Independence (people are not biased by others).
Aggregation of judgments (averaging cancels out errors).
What are potential problems with crowd-based decision-making?
Social influence (people follow dominant voices).
Bias reinforcement (shared misinformation spreads easily).
Overconfidence in experts (confidence ≠ accuracy).
What is swarm intelligence?
A decentralized form of problem-solving where simple agents follow local rules, leading to emergent intelligent behavior (e.g., ant colonies, fish schools).
How is swarm intelligence different from crowd wisdom?
Wisdom of the crowd → Individual guesses are averaged after independent judgments.
Swarm intelligence → Group members interact in real-time to reach a decision.
What is artificial swarm intelligence (ASI)?
A computational model where human groups use real-time feedback loops to enhance collective decision-making (e.g., AI-assisted group decision tools).
What did studies show about human swarms vs. individual predictions?
Swarm-based groups outperform traditional crowdsourcing.
Swarms predicted the Super Bowl and Oscars more accurately than independent voting.
What cognitive biases affect collective decision-making?
Anchoring bias – People rely too much on initial information.
Groupthink – Members conform to the majority opinion.
Overprecision – People have too much confidence in their estimates.
How can bias be reduced in collective intelligence?
Training in logic and probability.
Using structured discussion methods (e.g., Delphi technique).
Encouraging diverse viewpoints.
What is distributed cognition?
The idea that thinking is spread across people, tools, and environments, not just in individual minds.
What are examples of distributed cognition?
A ship crew coordinating navigation.
A software development team working on a shared project.
Air traffic controllers managing planes through teamwork and computers.
What are the three types of distributed cognition?
Across individuals – Teams share mental models (e.g., sports teams).
Between people and tools – Using computers, maps, and devices.
Over time – Knowledge is built over generations (e.g., scientific discoveries).
What is the g-factor for group intelligence?
Just as individuals have general intelligence (g-factor), groups also have a collective intelligence (c-factor) that predicts performance.
What is the strongest predictor of collective intelligence in small groups?
Social perceptiveness – The ability to recognize and respond to others’ mental states.
What factors increase group intelligence?
Diversity (different perspectives and skills).
Effective communication (clear goal alignment).
Balanced participation (avoiding dominance effects).
Why can too much diversity harm group intelligence?
If members lack common ground, it can cause conflict and miscommunication.
What is distributed artificial intelligence (DAI)?
A branch of AI focused on cooperative multi-agent systems working together to solve problems.
How does DAI differ from connectionist models (neural networks)?
DAI systems consist of independent intelligent agents.
Neural networks are simple interconnected units passing activation signals.
How can AI enhance collective intelligence?
Facilitating communication (AI summarizing discussions).
Reducing bias (AI balancing group input).
Simulating possible outcomes (AI-driven forecasting)
What is CRUM (Computational-Representational Understanding of Mind)?
A theory that explains cognition through mental representations and computational processes.
What is the main criticism of CRUM?
It ignores social interactions, embodiment, and the importance of real-world experiences in cognition.
How can CRUM be expanded to include social cognition?
By considering shared mental models.
By including emotional and social influences on decision-making.
By modeling interactions between individuals and groups.
How can collective intelligence help environmental decision-making?
Crowdsourcing conservation solutions.
Citizen science projects collecting biodiversity data.
Swarm-based AI forecasting for climate predictions.
What is an example of crowdsourcing for scientific research?
Foldit → A game where players help solve protein-folding problems.
Galaxy Zoo → A project where people classify galaxies in telescope images.
What are prediction markets, and how do they use collective intelligence?
People trade shares in different outcomes (e.g., election results), and market prices reflect the group’s best prediction.
How can future AI enhance human collective intelligence?
AI systems that moderate group discussions to prevent bias.
Real-time human-AI swarm collaboration in crisis decision-making.
AI that integrates emotional intelligence into group processes.
What is the biggest challenge for AI in group decision-making?
Ensuring ethical and unbiased facilitation.
Balancing AI input with human autonomy.
What are the core principles of CI?
Diversity of Thought – Different perspectives improve problem-solving.
Independence – Individuals form judgments without external influence.
Decentralization – No single leader controls all decisions.
Aggregation – Combining inputs leads to smarter collective decisions.
What is an example of successful collective intelligence?
Wikipedia, where thousands of contributors collaborate to create accurate knowledge.
How does swarm intelligence differ from traditional crowdsourcing?
Swarm intelligence involves real-time adaptation and local interactions.
Crowdsourcing aggregates independent answers after they are collected.
When does the Wisdom of the Crowd fail?
Groupthink – When individuals conform to the majority instead of thinking independently.
Social Influence – People adjust their opinions based on dominant voices.
Echo Chambers – When groups reinforce biased perspectives instead of considering diverse viewpoints.
How can bias in collective decision-making be reduced?
Use blind voting to prevent social influence.
Ensure diverse perspectives in decision-making.
Encourage deliberation before reaching a consensus.
What are real-world examples of distributed cognition?
Air traffic control teams coordinating flight navigation.
Doctors using medical databases to diagnose illnesses.
Stock market analysts using AI-driven insights.
What is social perceptiveness, and why is it important?
The ability to recognize and respond to others’ thoughts and emotions, which enhances group intelligence.
What is a collective intelligence factor (C-Factor)?
A measurable “group IQ” that predicts how well a team will perform on complex tasks.
What is a network effect?
A system where the value increases as more people use it (e.g., social media, cryptocurrency).
How does self-organization contribute to collective intelligence?
Without centralized control, groups can spontaneously adapt to changing environments.
What are prediction markets?
Markets where people bet on future events, and the market price reflects the most likely outcome.
Why are prediction markets often more accurate than experts?
They aggregate many independent judgments.
Participants have financial incentives to be correct.
How will AI change collective intelligence in the future?
AI will mediate human discussions, preventing bias.
AI will enable real-time swarm collaboration in crisis decision-making.
AI-driven prediction markets will optimize policymaking.
