---
title: "Meaning of collective intelligence"
subject: "Information System"
chapter: 4
key: "semester_8/information_system:collective-intelligence-meaning"
source: https://www.bctengineer.com/q/semester_8/information_system/collective-intelligence-meaning
site: BCT Engineering
---

# Meaning of collective intelligence

Information System · Chapter 4: Decision support and Intelligent systems

- Asked in: 2070 Bhadra, 4 marks
- Video: [What is Collective Intelligence?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXdR2vAhnzY) — The New Enlightenment with Ashley
- Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort) on 2026-10-14
- Page: https://www.bctengineer.com/q/semester_8/information_system/collective-intelligence-meaning
- Whole chapter: https://www.bctengineer.com/md/semester_8/information_system/chapter-4

## Question

What do you mean by Collective Intelligence?

## Short answer

Collective intelligence is the shared knowledge and problem-solving ability that arises when many people collaborate or contribute, leading to better group outcomes than individuals alone. It relies on diversity, independent judgement, and aggregation mechanisms, as seen in Wikipedia, open-source projects, and product reviews.

## Answer

**Collective Intelligence (CI)** is the intelligence that arises when many individuals work together - by sharing information, collaborating, or competing - so that the group produces better knowledge, decisions or solutions than any one member could alone. It is often enabled by the Internet and Web 2.0 tools.

**Key ideas**
- **Diversity** of people and opinions.
- **Independence** of judgement, so errors cancel out.
- **Decentralisation** - no single controller.
- **Aggregation** - a method to combine contributions (voting, averaging, editing).

**Examples**
- **Wikipedia** - millions of volunteers write and correct articles.
- **Google search** - uses links created by many web authors.
- **Stack Overflow, open-source projects, Waze**.
- Product ratings and reviews, crowdsourcing and prediction markets.

In organizations, CI is used in knowledge management systems, idea platforms and customer feedback to improve products and decisions.

## Check yourself

The answer's key points as multiple-choice questions, with the correct option and why.

1. Collective Intelligence is best described as:
   A. Intelligence from many individuals working together that is better than any one member alone
   B. The intelligence of the group leader
   C. Machine learning on a single computer
   D. The sum of salaries of employees
   Answer: A. CI arises when many people collaborate or compete so that the group result beats any single member. (Key point: Meaning)

2. Why is independence of judgement important in CI?
   A. So everyone copies one opinion
   B. So individual errors cancel out when contributions are combined
   C. So a single controller decides
   D. So no one contributes
   Answer: B. Independent judgements make errors cancel out when aggregated. (Key point: Key ideas)

3. What does 'aggregation' mean in CI?
   A. Separating contributions
   B. A method to combine contributions, such as voting, averaging or editing
   C. Central control by one person
   D. Deleting minority views
   Answer: B. Aggregation is the method used to combine members' contributions. (Key point: Aggregation)

## Related in Information System

- [Collective intelligence and KMS](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_8%2Finformation_system%3Acollective-intelligence-km) — Information System, chapter 4
- [Collective intelligence pros and cons](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_8%2Finformation_system%3Acollective-intelligence-pros-cons) — Information System, chapter 4

## Related in other subjects

- [Harnessing collective intelligence in Web 2.0](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_7%2Fweb_technology%3Acollective-intelligence-web2) — Web Technology, chapter 6