"Bon Sens" , "Common Sense" & artificial intelligence

Many Americans strive to align the translation of their “common sense” with the “bon sens” of the Latins of the Old Continent. The etymology of words and expressions is, after all, revealing of the meanings they carry.

Trump's election: is it Latin bon sens or American common sense? The fact that cartoons of Muhammad were hardly disseminated in American media (despite much broader freedom of expression than in the Old Continent) — is that bon sens? The fact that Trump’s inauguration speech was broadcast on a delay by RTBF (Belgium’s national radio) — is that common sense? (Some cynics called it “Belgian common sense!”).

Individual human intelligence can boast bon sens, while collective human intelligence falls more into the realm of common sense.

On the other hand, when it comes to artificial intelligence, it clearly belongs to the realm of common sense, as it is largely based on “frequency.”

Whether it's the evolution of “Life” or the conclusions reached by artificial intelligence, it’s all probabilistic and stochastic (think human moods, “temperature” settings, and coefficients k and p in AI systems).

The major difference between the human approach (here I’m no longer speaking of intelligence) and that of artificial intelligence lies in the informational size of the “token” (3-4 characters in AI, up to 28 characters for a word in French, for example).

A long token contains more signifiers and meanings than a short token, partly because of its “experience” and history. A long token generates more ideas, thoughts, and even fantasies than a short token.

In creativity, bon sens drives one to be disruptive, to go against the grain. Common sense, on the other hand, leans toward probability.

Certainly, AI introduces an element of randomness, of chance, but only to avoid monotony. Artificial intelligence takes no risks; only the “prompter” can claim to take risks.

Over time, bon sens can influence, gain ground, and align with common sense. This often happens during political shifts (especially when common sense has been wrong for too long).

In all matters that are deterministic in the short and medium term, artificial intelligence and common sense prevail (chess, for example, is a deterministic game: White always has the first move).

As you can see, I place common sense in the domain of “common knowledge,” and therefore artificial intelligence.

Thus, if creativity often consists of going against common sense, then AI tools will be valuable in identifying directions that are the opposite of those they recommend.