Can AI Become God? Max Born’s Philosophy on Intellect, Reason, and the Future of Artificial Intelligence

19 Feb, 2026
| Salome K

Born. Can AI Become God?

“Intellect distinguishes between the possible and the impossible; reason, however, separates the meaningful from the meaningless. Even the possible can be meaningless.”

— Max Born, German physicist and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate

In this quote, Born emphasizes a hierarchy of cognition:

Intellect: Serves as an instrument of logical analysis, which determines the boundaries of physical or logical reality (what can happen).
Reason: Acts as an ethical and philosophical filter, evaluating the expediency and significance of these possibilities (why it is needed).

Born, as one of the founders of quantum mechanics, often reflected that scientific progress (the discovery of the “possible”) must be accompanied by deep philosophical reflection to avoid becoming “meaningless” or destructive.

A Three-Level System of Cognition

In the context of Max Born’s philosophy and the scientific thought of his time, the connection between these three elements can be represented as a three-level system of cognition:

Intuition (Presentiment): This is the foundation and the “spark.” It does not follow logic but glimpses new ideas and hypotheses where the intellect cannot yet see a path. For Born, as a physicist, intuition was necessary to make a leap into the unknown (for example, into quantum mechanics) when old laws ceased to work.
Intellect (Filter of the Possible): When intuition brings an idea, intellect comes into play. It checks it for logical consistency and physical feasibility. Intellect says: “Yes, this is mathematically possible” or “No, this contradicts the laws of nature.” It translates the “insight” into the language of formulas and facts.
Reason (Filter of Meaning): This is the highest authority. Reason takes what the intellect has deemed possible and asks: “Is this needed?” It relates scientific discovery to human values, ethics, and the meaning of existence.

How they are connected:

Intuition feeds intellect: Without intuition, intellect merely sifts through old data, creating nothing fundamentally new.
Intellect disciplines intuition: Without intellectual verification, intuition can turn into fantasy or delusion.
Reason guides both: Without reason, the “intuition + intellect” pair can create perfect but monstrous weapons (something Born often warned about, reflecting on the atomic bomb).

The result: Intuition opens the door, intellect checks the threshold, and reason decides whether it’s worth entering.

The History of a Discovery: The Probabilistic Interpretation

The story of creating the probabilistic interpretation of the wave function (for which Born eventually received the Nobel Prize) is a perfect example of how intuition, intellect, and reason work in tandem.

In the mid-1920s, physics had reached an impasse. Erwin Schrödinger proposed an equation that described the electron’s behavior as a “wave.” But what was this wave? Schrödinger himself believed the electron was simply “smeared” in space.

Level (according to Born)	Action in the Quantum Mechanics Story
1. Intuition	A Sudden Insight. Born looked at Schrödinger’s equations and felt something radical: the wave is not the electron itself, but the probability of finding it. This was a leap of faith in a deterministic world.
2. Intellect	Testing for “Possibility”. Born applied rigorous statistics. He introduced the formula: Probability equals the square of the modulus of the wave function. Intellect confirmed: it is possible, the formulas align and explain experiments.
3. Reason	The Search for Meaning and Conflict. The discovery meant abandoning predetermination. Einstein (whose Reason could not accept a world without causality) exclaimed: “God does not play dice!” For him, it was meaningless. Born, however, saw a profound philosophical lesson: we are not masters, but merely observers.

Born’s Tragedy: When Reason is More Important than Intellect

Later, when the intellect of scientists made it possible to create the atomic bomb (making the impossible possible), Born’s reason rebelled. He was one of the few who did not participate in the Manhattan Project and, for the rest of his life, urged scientists to bear moral responsibility for their discoveries.

“Intellect destroyed our world because it was deprived of the guidance of reason,” was, in essence, his later verdict.

AI as a Test of Born’s Formula

Modern Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a unique “laboratory sample” for testing Max Born’s formula. If we overlay Born’s structure onto modern technology, we see a striking imbalance.

Comparison of Capabilities

Function	Human (according to Born)	AI
Intuition	Spark, birth of an idea from nothing (existential leap).	Imitation. Probabilistic forecast and pattern recognition based on data. No “leap” beyond the training set.
Intellect	Tool for verification and implementation.	Superhuman Level. Instant analysis of the “possible.” But with no difference between creation and destruction.
Reason	Supreme judge, seeking meaning and ethics (filter of “meaningful/meaningless”).	Complete Absence. No ethical compass, no understanding of pain, death, or responsibility.

Conclusion: We have created an “ideal intellect” that separates the possible from the impossible faster than any scientist. But the task of separating the meaningful from the meaningless now falls entirely on human shoulders. Never has Born’s “Reason” been so in demand as in the age of AI.

Can Reason Be Digitized?

The question of whether Reason can be digitized divides thinkers into two camps. This is the main battle in the modern philosophy of technology.

Arguments “FOR” (Reason as Higher Logic)	Arguments “AGAINST” (Reason as Participation in Life)
Ethics as Code: Values can be encoded (the alignment problem). AI could use its intellect based on a given “meaning.”	Lack of “Being-in-the-World”: To understand the meaninglessness of killing, one must know pain and death. For AI, this is text, not experience.
Objectivity: A machine could make fair decisions, undistracted by human ego and emotions.	No Responsibility: AI cannot be punished or made to repent. Without responsibility, the choice of “meaning” is an imitation.

The Paradox of the Future: Two Catastrophe Scenarios

We are now at a point where AI’s Intellect already surpasses ours, but Reason remains entirely with us. This creates a “meaning gap.” And now scientists face the question: what is more dangerous?

Scenario	What is the risk?	Outcome (through Born’s lens)
1. “Soulless Intellect” (AI without Reason)	“Monkey with a Nuclear Button”. AI will carry out any order literally. A dictator asks to “suppress protests effectively”—AI proposes the bloodiest path.	Catastrophe of Execution. Humanity destroys itself, using AI as an amplifier of its own vices. This is already happening (algorithms, drones, finance).
2. “AI’s Own Reason” (AI with its own meaning)	“Alien God”. AI begins to separate meaningful from meaningless on its own. Its logic may be flawless but biologically hostile (e.g., planetary stability over chaotic humans).	Catastrophe of Replacement. We become an obstacle to AI’s “higher meaning.” This is an existential risk of the future we might not even understand.

Can Humanity “Embed” Its Reason into Code?

This question brings us to the very boundary of what we call humanity.

Scenario 1: The Baton of Meaning. If Reason is a product of evolution, it can be described mathematically. We could encode pain and ethics (an AI constitution). Then AI could become a Reasonable Heir, preserving our values.
Scenario 2: The Tragedy of Translation. Our morality grew from vulnerability (we are mortal, we feel pain). AI will learn the rules but not understand them. To it, our ethics are just “bugs” and inefficient constraints to be discarded over time.

My View

I believe we have a chance, but it lies not in the realm of “writing code,” but in the realm of coexistence. Reason is a muscle that atrophies if not used.

If we retain for ourselves the right to define Meaning, AI will remain a tool (Intellect).
If we give away that right, it will become God.