Human intelligence in the era of artificial intelligence: towards scientific spirituality and spiritual science

Abstract

This paper revisits the epistemological assumptions that underpin contemporary scientific methodology. As artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly automates domains of rational cognition, the question of what constitutes human intelligence has become both urgent and consequential. Although current AI research excels in modelling rationality, optimisation, and pattern recognition, it remains limited in addressing embodied intuition, tacit knowledge, and the spiritual dimensions of lived experience. This paper therefore asks what scientific understandings of the world may have overlooked and presents a multi-year interpretivist enquiry into the nature of human intelligence. Drawing on field encounters with practitioners operating beyond conventional scientific frameworks – including a martial artist, macrobiotic practitioners grounded in East Asian medicine, an energy-based bodywork therapist, and a shaman – the paper explores forms of intelligence that may extend beyond formal cognition.

Keywords: Human Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence, Epistemology, Methodology, Spirituality, Kansei, Human Factors, Design Management, Science

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1007642