Cognition and Intelligence in Natural and Artificial Systems
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22134013 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gordana Dodig-Crnković (0000-0001-9881-400X, Mälardalen University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 76 |
| Publication date | 2026-05-12 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Philosophies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2409-9287 • E-ISSN: 2409-9287 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/philosophies11030076 |
| OpenAlex | W7162102778 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 37 |
Cognition and intelligence are central concepts in cognitive science, biology, philosophy of mind, and artificial intelligence, yet these disciplines offer conflicting accounts of what each of them means and how the two notions are related. In many accounts the two notions are used interchangeably, while in others intelligence is defined independently of cognitive processes. Dominant human-centered traditions identify cognition with mental processes associated with brains, whereas life-centered perspectives attribute cognitive capacities to all living systems. This article proposes a relational, life-centered, info-computational framework in which cognition is the ongoing autopoietic and sense-making organization of living systems, while intelligence is the degree of competence with which such organization achieves goal-directed problem solving under novelty, perturbation, and uncertainty. Cognition exists in degrees across living systems, from basal cellular sensing and regulation to increasingly complex cognitive organizations, while intelligence correspondingly appears in degrees in the ability to solve cognitive problems. Current artificial systems can exhibit engineered or derivative intelligence and may implement cognition-like functions, but they are not cognitive in the biological sense. The resulting framework clarifies how human-centered, life-centered, computational, and artificial intelligence can be related
Artificial general intelligence · Artificial intelligence, situated approach · Autopoiesis · Cognition · Cognitive robotics · Human intelligence · Cognitive Computing and Networks · Embodied and Extended Cognition · Psychiatry, Mental Health, Neuroscience
Understanding Understanding
Embodied Cognition
Neurocognitive Mechanisms
Human Cognitive Abilities
Embodied cognition
Whatever next? Predictive brains, situated agents, and the future of cognitive science
The free-energy principle
The Extended Mind
Autopoiesis and Cognition
The Oxford Handbook of 4E Cognition
The Embodied Mind
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |