Some researchers hold the view that human intelligence will be surpassed by computers in the upcoming years. While there is some truth to this view, I believe computers cannot outperform humans in all aspects of life due to their dependency on programming and potential for malfunction.
Admittedly, computers may be superior when compared to people in terms of intelligence in some respects. Information processing speed of these devices, for instance, is the thing that gives them an edge over human intelligence. That is, computers analyze information millions of times faster than ordinary people, making them highly efficient at predicting or solving intricate problems. For example, unlike humans, they are capable of forecasting the weather patterns quickly in advance, or even processing information coming from the satellites or missiles in a short space of time due to their high processing speed. Another thing that enables computers to outperform human cognitive abilities can be their vast and error-free memory and storage. Based on the huge amount of information they gathered over time, computers are able to make well-informed decisions, while people cannot do so, owing to their forgetful nature. In the medical field, for instance, computers would diagnose the patients accurately, relying on their past medical records, research papers, and case studies, which doctors might overlook in some cases. Therefore, computers could overshadow their human counterparts in some situations because of their strong memory.
Despite these advantages, there are several limitations of computers that do not allow them to overtake human intelligence. One of them is their reliance on programming and lack of independence. Without human-created algorithms, computers are incapable of making decisions independently, and they cannot come up with new ideas and create inventions. For example, a recently developed AI system that is known for its versatility and efficiency can only work productively when there is a human interaction. Hence, their reliance on people does not let computers compete with human intelligence. Furthermore, there is a potential for computers to malfunction, which makes them less reliable when it comes to cognitive tasks, or critical situations. Experiments with driverless cars, in which there are some car accidents and breakdowns during the drive, can be striking examples, which deter scientists from relying on artificial intelligence in all circumstances. For this reason, computers are highly unlikely to outperform humans in such situations due to possible technical failures.
To conclude, while computers may have better cognitive function than people in some regards because of their higher speed and good memory, they are not totally reliable, seeing as computers are dependent on programming and may not function properly all the time.