In Praise of Natural Intelligence
For the past few years, we’ve all been captivated by a shiny new object: Artificial Intelligence.
It writes emails. It summarizes documents or a Teams call. It generates code. It even creates passable country songs, which is either impressive or deeply concerning depending on your musical standards.
In short, AI is doing a lot of things that once required, well … us.
But in all the excitement, there’s something we may be overlooking:
Natural Intelligence.
You know—the original version. Still widely available. No subscription required.
Artificial Intelligence is remarkable. It can process massive datasets, recognize patterns at scale and deliver answers in seconds. In the semiconductor world, it’s already helping optimize designs, accelerate simulations and improve yields.
At Qorvo, like much of the industry, we’re exploring how AI can enhance everything from RF design to power management. It’s a powerful tool, and it’s only getting better.
But here’s the part we shouldn’t forget:
AI doesn’t replace Natural Intelligence. It depends on it.
AI can generate answers.
Natural Intelligence still has to decide if they’re any good.
Take a Deeper Dive
- Understand how our intelligent power technologies work behind the scenes to help AI operate with greater efficiency.
- Read Brent’s article Unmasking the Power (and RF) Behind AI.
- Learn how RF filters enable the wireless connectivity that shapes our connected world.
AI can generate a flawless plan in seconds.
Natural Intelligence still has to step in when that plan somehow involves three connecting flights, a rental car and arriving before you left.
AI can optimize a design.
Natural Intelligence defines the problem—and knows when the optimization missed the point entirely.
AI can analyze a signal.
Natural Intelligence figures out whether it’s interference, intent, or something that just doesn’t look right.
In RF and power design, context is everything—and it rarely shows up neatly in a dataset. Tradeoffs matter. Constraints matter. And sometimes the most important decision isn’t the one that maximizes performance, it’s the one that balances performance, cost, size and reliability in a way that actually works in the real world.
That’s not just computation. That’s judgment.
And judgment is still a very human skill.
Of course, AI has its strengths.
It doesn’t get tired.
It doesn’t get distracted.
It doesn’t need coffee or a beer.
It also doesn’t get suspicious— which, depending on the situation, might be a drawback.
Natural Intelligence also has a way of asking inconvenient questions—like whether a company known for wool sneakers should suddenly become an AI infrastructure provider.
The real risk isn’t that AI becomes more intelligent than we are.
The real risk is that we become less engaged in using our own intelligence.
When every answer is instantly available, the temptation is to stop asking better questions.
When every design can be optimized, the temptation is to stop thinking critically about what we’re optimizing for.
And when every problem seems solvable with a prompt, the temptation is to forget that the hardest part of engineering has always been defining the problem in the first place.
At Qorvo, our technology sits at the intersection of RF complexity and real-world application. Whether it’s enabling connectivity, improving power efficiency or supporting high-reliability systems, the work we do depends on engineers making smart decisions in complex environments.
AI can help accelerate that work.
But it can’t replace the experience, intuition and creativity that drive it.
In the end, Artificial Intelligence may be one of the most powerful tools we’ve ever created.
But it’s still just that—a tool.
And like any tool, its value depends entirely on the intelligence of the person using it.
Which means Natural Intelligence isn’t being replaced.
It’s being tested.
If AI is the shiny new object, Natural Intelligence is still the thing that knows what to do with it.
And for now, at least, that’s a capability we don’t plan to outsource.
About the Author
Brent Dietz, director of corporate communications at Qorvo, has seen a lot of engineering and technology during 30+ years in the tech industry. His primary role is making geek-speak understandable to the non-geek public, reporters and non-technical analysts. It's challenging — simplifying without distorting — and it helps to have a sense of humor. Brent does, which he shares with Microwave Journal readers from time to time.
This article first appeared in Brent's Musings in Microwave Journal
