As we enter a new age of creative work + AI, one question persists: What forms of intelligence belong to humans, and what kinds are better left to machines?
One definition of intelligence is insufficient. When I say the word intelligent, most people hear book smart. But I want to move away from hierarchy altogether. Intelligence is something harmonic — an intuition or knowledge within a project, a system, a life. One friend might be (profoundly) emotionally intelligent. Another creatively so. Neither intelligence is better. Each is a frequency. Each is its own dimension.
After a brief discussion with Claude on how many different types of intelligence exist, I asked it to: Create an interactive visual showing six forms of intelligence. Each form appears as a clean, minimal card with the name in large type. When you click a card, a panel expands with the definition, examples, and a comparison to AI. Simple on the surface, rich underneath. Elegant and minimal.
Update, Feb 10: After rereading Paul Graham's essay on how to do great work, I realized there's a seventh form — and it may contrast with AI more than any other. Perceptual intelligence: the capacity to notice what isn't there. It's what entrepreneurs feel before they have a product. What artists follow before they have a subject. A writer finishing a story without knowing where it goes, trusting the absence to lead.
Seven Forms of Intelligence
Select any form to explore its definition, examples, and how it compares to artificial intelligence.