Cognitive Limits of AI: A Key to Enhancing AI

The correlation between the human hand and the mind is a well-documented phenomenon in the fields of philosophy, anthropology and neuroscience. However, the intellectual potential of the hand and embodiment as a whole remains underestimated in the domain of cyber technology. This philosophical paper examines the gap between hand-centred knowledge and machine understanding, to explore whether there are margins of cognitive enhancement for machines through the improvement of their sensing capabilities. The author begins with a historical introduction to the relationship between hand and mind in classical and contemporary philosophy. The ensuing discourse will focus on elucidating the function of hands as activators of knowledge, thereby addressing the dual question of how hands and machines acquire knowledge. Finally, it will be considered the prospective use of porous materials, which embody the latest frontiers of digital technology, to advance the cognitive development of artificial intelligence. It will be argued that this represents a commitment to future research in cybernetics, with particular reference to the use of analogies with the properties of the hand (e.g. flexibility, touch and sensing). The concept of machine quasi-knowledge is introduced as an analogy to human understanding. The final discussion will focus on the claim that such a category has the capacity to serve as a zero degree for the formulation of a theory of personhood, including that of digital machines endowed with artificial intelligence.