DailyDirt: Natural, All-Organic Intelligence... For The Birds

Computers might be able to beat people at games like chess and Jeopardy! -- but maybe while we're watching out for Skynet, we should also be looking out for other animals getting smarter. Artificial intelligence might never actually produce self-conscious thoughts, but we already have at least one example of animals that do (us?). In any case, here are some birds that show some potential, too.

• Alex the parrot was often described to be as smart as a 5-year-old kid. Time to clone some parrots and create an army of birds. How many birds as smart as a 5yo could you take in a fight? [url]
• Maybe your 401K would do better under the management of a parrot -- a parrot named Strawberry outperformed 8 out of 10 human investors. Random stock picks would probably also do better than most humans, though. [url]
• Some crows can actually make tools -- bending wires to form hooks in order to retrieve food. Who says a brain the size of a walnut isn't impressive? [url]
• To discover more fascinating wildlife, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

As always, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story

Source: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110222/11135513210/dailydirt-natural-all-organic-intelligence-birds.shtml

COGNIZANT TECH SOLUTIONS COMCAST COMMSCOPE COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS