When asked to identify the smartest person he has ever met, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang refused to give a simple answer. His response reveals a shift in how we should think about intelligence in the age of artificial intelligence.
“I can’t answer that question,” Huang told podcast host Jodi Shelton during the podcast episode. “The definition of smart is somebody who’s intelligent, solve problems, technical, but I find that that’s a commodity.”
Huang’s perspective challenges conventional notions of intelligence. He argues that what most people consider “smart” is actually the easiest type of intelligence for AI to replicate.
He stated, “We’re about to prove that artificial intelligence is able to handle that part easiest.”
His evidence? Software programming, long considered the ultimate intellectual profession, became one of the first skills that AI could effectively handle.
“Everybody thought software programming is the ultimate smart profession. Look what is the first thing that AI is solving? Software programming,” he explained. “So it turns out that the definition of smart is very different than most people think.”
Instead, Huang defines true intelligence as something far more nuanced and human. “My personal definition of smart is someone who sits at that intersection of being technically astute but human empathy and having the ability to infer the unspoken, the around the corners, the unknowables.”
He elaborated on this concept, describing truly smart people as those “who are able to see around corners.”
These individuals possess something that transcends pure analytical ability. Their value comes from a unique combination of data analysis, first principles thinking, life experience, wisdom, and the ability to sense other people and situations.
“That vibe, I think that’s smart. That I think is going to be the future definition of smart, and that person might actually score horribly on the SAT,” Huang said.
As AI continues to advance and handles increasingly complex technical tasks, the human qualities that Huang describes become more valuable, not less.
Huang’s view is shaped by decades of experience building Nvidia from a startup in 1993 to one of the world’s most valuable companies. Throughout that journey, he has worked with thousands of brilliant people and witnessed firsthand what separates those who can truly make a difference.
“People who are 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, life experience, wisdom, sensing other people. That vibe, I think that’s smart,” he said.
