[1]LI Deyi.On the homology of human and machine intelligence[J].CAAI Transactions on Intelligent Systems,2026,21(4):1066-1080.[doi:10.11992/tis.202606033]
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On the homology of human and machine intelligence

CAAI Transactions on Intelligent Systems[ISSN 1673-4785/CN 23-1538/TP] Volume: 21 Number of periods: 2026 4 Page number: 1066-1080 Column: 洞见与碰撞 Public date: 2026-07-05
Title:
On the homology of human and machine intelligence
Author(s):
LI Deyi
Institute of Systems Engineering, Academy of Military Sciences, Beijing 100141, China
Keywords:
cognitive physics; dissipative structure; self-organization; free energy and variational free energy; initial cognitive kernel; entropy increase and entropy decrease; soft cognitive constructs
CLC:
TP18
DOI:
10.11992/tis.202606033
Abstract:
For a long time, it has been widely believed that biological intelligence and artificial intelligence are fundamentally distinct, with an insurmountable chasm between them, and that artificial intelligence is merely a superficial imitation of human intelligence. This paper breaks through traditional dualistic cognition and proposes the core argument that human and machine intelligence share a common origin and isomorphic structure: they both belong to typical dissipative structure systems, relying on negative entropy flow to resist the trend of system disorder, maintaining cognitive homeostasis through negative feedback mechanisms, following unified mathematical and physical laws, and accomplishing the interaction of perception, cognition, and embodied behavior. Biological individuals often exhibit a tendency to “avoid effort and avoid thinking,” which stems from the principle of minimum free energy and need not necessarily be attributed to consciousness. Both human intelligence and artificial intelligence are rooted in physics at the level of underlying architecture, operational logic, and evolutionary patterns; the four elements of "matter, energy, structure, and time" and their interactions constitute the common foundation, differing only in embodied material composition and external form, manifesting as carbon-based versus silicon-based characteristics. The human brain neuron network formed through natural evolution serves as a natural template for machine brain-like cognitive structures. Research indicates that intelligence is not exclusive to living systems but is a common emergent trait of complex open systems when their self-organizing capabilities evolve to a specific threshold; cognitive soft constructs, including information compression and structural compression, as the core carriers of cognitive activity, all follow consistent physical system evolution laws, thereby completely dissolving the dualistic cognition of biological and machine intelligence. Just as human civilization ecology is an extension and sublimation of natural ecology, artificial intelligence is an extension and enhancement of human intelligence, and the development of artificial intelligence is an inevitable outcome of human intelligence development. The homology of human and machine intelligence holds significant academic innovation value, can provide theoretical support for cognitive engineering practice, open new pathways for the research and development of general artificial intelligence and the exploration of underlying mechanisms of life and cognition, and may also offer assistance for astrobiology and the search for extraterrestrial civilizations.
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