Human-AI bonding better if the human mind is curious and creative

Having an open and curious mind, more than just technical skills, is fundamental to establishing a fruitful and 'friendly' collaboration with AI. The human-machine relationship, that is, is more productive and effective if the human interlocutor has character traits of openness and mental elasticity, as is the case, for instance, with figures such as researchers and philosophers. This was revealed by researchers from Mnesys, the largest neuroscience research programme in Italy and Europe, commenting on the most recent studies on the subject of dialogue between different forms of human intelligence and artificial intelligence, to which this year's Brain Week, from today to 22 March, is dedicated.

Many researchers in the programme, which has been funded by the NRP but will continue beyond it, with the development of the innovation hub and service centre for research, have engaged in investigations into the functioning of the brain and how its plasticity can also be an asset in dealing with AI. The new data indicate that the forms of human intelligence most useful for making the most of interaction with AI are the creative, the critical and the conversational; moreover, it is being discovered that certain personality traits also facilitate human-IA synergy and that the most advantaged are not technical specialists, but people with an open, curious and elastic mind, such as philosophers or researchers.

"In the era of artificial intelligence, hybrid intelligence, the result of the interaction between human and artificial intelligence, marks an epoch-making step forward that is destined to enhance the capabilities of the human brain,' explains Antonio Uccelli, scientific coordinator of Mnesys, professor of neurology at the University of Genoa and scientific director of the Irccs Ospedale Policlinico San Martino. But the development of this change also depends on personality characteristics that can affect the relationship with the AI, as demonstrated by a recent study by John Hopkins University according to which, for example, the best performance is obtained if the human-machine couple is 'well matched' in terms of character traits: in general, those with an open and curious intelligence interact better with the AI'. However, 'if we limit ourselves to passively accepting the solutions offered by AI, we risk losing the ability to develop innovative ideas,' warns Sergio Martinoia, Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Genoa and coordinator of the scientific committee of the Mnesys programme. 'A study by the University of Nanjing and a recent meta-analysis by the University of Munich have shown that collaborating with a generative AI can increase creative performance, but there is also a risk of reducing the diversity of ideas: it is therefore necessary to develop one's personal creative intelligence, so that AI can be a kind of 'muse' that amplifies possible ideas. Knowing its limits means in fact being able to understand whether or not to trust the indications, for example by checking directly at the source what emerged'.

Studies on human-IA interaction have also observed that AI works best when the user is able to formulate good questions, knows how to explore hypotheses and is capable of interactive reasoning. 'These are typical characteristics of people who do not only have technical skills, for example, people such as researchers or philosophers,' observes Enrico Castanini, president of Mnesys. 'Mnesys itself has been an opportunity for scientists to dialogue with supercomputers and AI, and it is a demonstration of how positive this synergy is: the possibility of analysing huge amounts of data with AI, guided by the creativity and critical sense of researchers, has made it possible to increase knowledge about the nervous system as never before, thanks to the publication of more than 1600 studies on the brain. This demonstrates how hybrid intelligence resulting from the encounter between AI and human intelligence can be an answer to the knowledge challenges of the future'.