By Haddon Libby
Last month, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang delivered a perspective-shifting commentary on the evolution of human intelligence during an appearance on the “A Bit Personal” podcast with Jodi Shelton. His remarks have since become a touchstone for experts attempting to define the value of human labor in an age where artificial intelligence is rapidly commoditizing technical skills.
When Shelton asked, “Who is the smartest person you’ve ever met?”, Huang notably declined to name an individual. Instead, he argued that our cultural definition of “smart” is undergoing a fundamental transformation. Huang answered, “I can’t answer that question, and I know what people are thinking. The definition of smart is somebody who’s intelligent, solves problems, technical… But I find that’s a commodity now. We’re about to prove that artificial intelligence can handle that part easily…My personal definition of smart is someone who sits at the intersection of being technically astute, having human empathy, and having the ability to infer the unspoken, the around the corners, the unknowables. People who are able to see around corners are truly, truly smart. To be able to preempt problems before they show up, just because you feel the vibe. And the vibe came from a combination of data analysis, first principle [thinking], life experience, wisdom, sensing other people—that vibe. That’s smart. I think it’s gonna be the future definition of smart, and that person might actually score horribly on the SAT.”
The First Principles Thinking that Huang refers to is a problem-solving strategy that involves breaking a complex situation down to its most basic, fundamental truths and building a solution from the ground up.
Expert Analysis: Intelligence as a Commodity
Tech analysts and educational experts have largely validated Huang’s assertion that traditional intelligence—once a scarce and highly-valued “moat”—is becoming a baseline requirement.
Experts note that because AI can now solve complex technical problems, write code, and pass professional exams better than most humans, “raw intelligence” (memory and reasoning) is becoming as cheap and accessible as electricity. What we traditionally thought of as a smart person may be changing.
At forums like the Cisco AI Summit, many experts have echoed Huang, suggesting that as “explicit programming” (writing code) is replaced by “implicit programming” (defining intent), the most valuable workers will be those with deep domain expertise and the judgment to know which questions matter most.
Huang’s use of the word “vibe” to describe a high-level synthesis of data and empathy has drawn particular praise from leadership coaches and psychologists. Experts argue that while AI can process data, it cannot replicate a human’s ability to “read a room” or understand unspoken emotional cues…yet.
Huang’s “seeing around corners” comment focuses on preempting problems is seen by business strategists as the final frontier of human competitive advantage. While AI is excellent at predicting outcomes based on historical data, it lacks the intuition that comes from life experience and First Principles Thinking needed to navigate truly novel or “unknowable” scenarios.
Perhaps the most controversial part of Huang’s comment was his suggestion that a “truly smart” person might score poorly on the SAT. Educators have noted that this reflects a growing skepticism toward standardized tests that measure the very “commodity intelligence” AI has already mastered.
Huang’s comment about “character and suffering” aligns with another conversation that he had at Stanford, where he claimed “greatness comes from character,” which is forged through struggle rather than just being “smart”.
Ultimately, experts agree that Huang is signaling a “hard truth” for the modern workforce: in an era of abundant machine intelligence. Our advantages as humans may rely on our intuition, empathy and accountability for our actions.
Haddon Libby is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of local RIA firm Winslow Drake Investment Management. For more information on our services, please visit www.WinslowDrake.com.
