# Intelligent Systems May Be Too Complex to Understand by George Dyson > “Anything simple enough to be understandable will not be complicated enough to behave intelligently, while anything complicated enough to behave intelligently will not be simple enough to understand.” > **— George Dyson**, *2004, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT'S YOUR LAW?”* ## Sources and Context - **Direct Edge response and surrounding essay:** [Dyson's Law](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/11980) — Edge published this exact, continuous passage in its 2004 Annual Question collection, *WHAT'S YOUR LAW?*. The response page preserves the surrounding argument and qualifications. - **Complete local collection index:** [[research/Edge 2004 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2004 Full Quotation Curation]] — retained source-first record for the response cohort and this passage's promotion status. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/Modern Artificial Intelligence in the 1970s|AI in the 1970s]] - **Article:** [[articles/Christopher Nolan's Odyssey at the Threshold of Machine Succession|Nolan's Odyssey]] - **Article:** [[articles/Cyber-Physical Lessons from Imperial Beekeeping|Cyber-Physical Beekeeping]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Artificial Intelligence|Artificial Intelligence]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Artificial Intelligence|Artificial Intelligence]] - [[wiki/Algorithmic Governance|Algorithmic Governance]] - [[wiki/Cybernetic Control|Cybernetic Control]] - [[wiki/Machine Learning|Machine Learning]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “Anything simple enough to be understandable will not be complicated enough to behave intelligently, while anything complicated enough to behave intelligently will not be simple enough to understand.” — George Dyson, 2004, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT'S YOUR LAW?” https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-george-dyson-intelligent-systems-too-complex-understand ```