Definition
Plain language
Two kinds of smarts — the on-the-fly ability to adapt to something new, versus the stored-up knowledge you've already accumulated.
As stated in the literature
A distinction (Cattell, revived by Chollet) between fluid intelligence — adapting to novel tasks — and crystallized intelligence — accumulated domain knowledge; invoked to frame learn-to-learn training as building the fluid component.
Also called: crystallized intelligence
Why it matters: The distinction frames whether an AI is merely recalling what it was trained on or genuinely adapting to novel problems, which is a key test of real flexibility.
For example, figuring out a brand-new puzzle you've never seen draws on fluid intelligence, while recalling a country's capital draws on crystallized knowledge.
Heard on the show
“The authors borrow a framing from Chollet — fluid versus crystallized intelligence.”Episode 160 — Training an AI to Take Its Own Notes, So Its Future Self Works Better