Intelligence VS Learning

Something that I'm debating in my mind is the connection between intelligence and learning. The reason I ask is that many of the comprehensive AI efforts out there are based on producing a system that can learn as a means for achieving intelligence.

My intuition, on the other hand, is that this approach is like trying to run before you can walk. (I'm not convinced of this, but it's a premonition)

I feel that it should be easier to create a system that is intelligent, but has very limited learning capacity. A system such as this would surely require a lot of hand crafting, which would no doubt be very expensive, but ultimately much more attainable than a system that can simply learn from experience.

I think there's plenty of evidence against my assertion... I get the sense that many people have tried over the decades to create brittle, hand crafted systems, and failed, but I'm still tempted to think this is the way to go.