US President Donald Trump has announced plans for the United States to replace the term artificial intelligence with “super intelligence” in official government documents.
Trump made the announcement on Tuesday while addressing world leaders at the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he spoke about the growing importance of advanced technology and the need for the US to maintain its leadership in the sector. According to the president, the word “artificial” gives the wrong impression about the capabilities of the technology because it makes intelligence appear fake.
“The use of the word artificial makes intelligence fake. It makes it sound fake, and it is not fake. It’s actually amazing, but we have to be careful,” Trump said.
He said the change would begin with US government documents, while expressing hope that other countries would eventually adopt the terminology.
“In fact, it is exactly the opposite of what it purports. From this point forward, all of United States documents and hopefully the world’s will be changed to use the much more accurate term, super, as opposed to artificial. In other words, welcome to the new world of super intelligence: SI. Let’s see if that goes. It sounds much better.”
Trump also used his speech to argue against efforts to slow down the development of advanced artificial intelligence. He said every major technology comes with challenges, but maintained that the potential benefits of the technology should not be overshadowed by fears about its possible risks.
“These are the same people that are now saying that AI is going to kill us all, that robots are going to attack us, and that everything is going to be a total disaster,” he said.
The US president compared the concerns surrounding artificial intelligence with earlier warnings about climate change. He also stressed that technological leadership could become an important source of global economic and strategic influence. Trump said the country that takes the lead in developing advanced intelligence technology would have a major advantage over other nations.
“Whoever wins SI, whoever wins super intelligence, wins,” he said. “That’s the group that wins. And we’re leading now over China by a lot and everyone else, and we’re going to keep it that way.”
Trump said his administration would not restrict the growth of the technology, which he described as potentially more significant than the Industrial Revolution or the internet.
“We will only encourage super intelligence. We’re going to encourage it, not rein it in,” he said. “The United States leads the world in super intelligence and will continue to do so safely and responsibly.”
While supporting continued development, Trump said the US government would still monitor the technology through the Department of Justice and other law enforcement agencies where necessary. The proposed terminology change has also drawn attention because “superintelligence” already has a specific meaning within the artificial intelligence field. In technology discussions, superintelligence generally refers to a hypothetical form of intelligence that would significantly exceed human abilities across a broad range of tasks.
Trump’s remarks therefore go beyond a simple change in wording, placing the debate over artificial intelligence within a wider discussion about technological leadership, regulation and the future role of the US in the global AI race.
