wow, sorry, i fail i haven't looked on here in forever so this is a little back dated, but I figured I would still reply anyway.
I believe intelligence IS what makes us human.
Many other mammals who are not deemed as "intelligent" are deemed that way because they have a smaller prefrontal cortex in their brain (if they have one at all). This region of the brain is what marks humans from other mammals. This is the part of the brain in which foresight, empathy, judgment, and planning take place. One of the most uniquely human characteristics from that list is foresight. We can plan ahead, and see consequences of our actions (yes, once we've matured that is). We do not think about solely what is going on here and now. We can think about the future and make plans for the future.
Empathy is shared with some of our mammal cousins, such as dogs, but we still can experience empathy more deeply and completely than a dog can. If you see someone crying, yes both you and a dog are likely to approach the person who is sad. But we, unlike a dog can fully understand why the person is sad when they try to explain it to us. Dogs cannot understand why the person is sad, they will just recognize that the person is sad in general.
Not only are emotions important when it comes to intelligence. We also have the planning skills to carry out ideas. How many mammals do you know who can do calculus (although I do have to say it is a completely pointless subject and I loathe it myself)? Architecture is another one of those planning skills that we have a much higher insight and intelligence what it comes to that than any other mammals. Have you seen any other mammal create a high rise out of steel? It takes an immense amount of intelligence to be able to plan the making of a sky scraper, to create and know the proper dimensions and to actually carry out the plan.
As humans, I know its not directly related, but there's some validity in this all the same, we have free will. We can make our own choices. We are in control of our future-in general. some things are going to happen to us that are not within our control, but what we chose to do with our life is up to us. We are not controlled by anyone. we are our own person and can make our own conscious decisions.
The last thing that makes us different from other mammals and allows us to be deemed as "intelligent" is that we have the ability to use tools and with these tools we can manipulate our environment. We can use a band saw to cut wood so we can make a house to live in and to protect us from the elements (especially here in upstate NY! haha). Primates do use tools as well, but they are crude tools such as a stick to get bugs out of a tree branch. As humans, we have sophisticated and electric tools. These are far more advanced than using a stick to get bugs out of a tree.
So, over all, our intelligence is defined by our brain and the fact that it is far more advanced because of our prefrontal cortex. (we also have more gray matter in our brain than other mammals, but those parts of the brain are more enhancers of what is present because of our developed prefrontal cortex)
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