According to the dual process theory, humans are capable of two “systems” of thinking: “automatic” System 1 cognition and “effortful” System 2 cognition. System 1 and System 2 may also refer to two types of cognitive tasks.
| System 1 | System 2 |
|---|---|
| Fast, intuitive, habitual | Slow, logical, planned |
| Implicit knowledge | Explicit knowledge |
| Unconscious, cannot be reported | Conscious, linguistic |
| 1-step parallel | Sequential, algorithmic |
| Demonstrated by current deep learning models | Demonstrated by agents with generalized ability, like humans |
Yoshua Bengio believes that System 2 supports System 1 thinking by adding to a set of “intelligent reflexes.” This suggests that implementing System 2 thinking in neural networks may lead to advances in machine intelligence.
Related: Non-declarative memory, Computationalism vs. connectionism, Global workspace theory