US President Donald Trump believes the term ‘artificial intelligence’ (AI) makes the technology sound ‘fake’. He proposed alternatives, including ‘superior intelligence’, ‘extreme intelligence’ and ‘supreme intelligence’, and told the UN General Assembly on September 22 that US government documents would henceforth use “super intelligence” instead of “artificial intelligence. “Welcome to the new world of super intelligence—SI,” Trump said during a speech to the Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
Over the past week, Trump asked his social media followers to weigh in on alternative names for AI. After a series of polls on his Truth Social platform, super intelligence emerged as the favourite.
This came days after CEOs of major AI companies unanimously announced that they are so scared of their own [AI] products that they think it’s time for federal regulation. However, Trump dismissed it as a “hoax”. The announcement also came days after Jacob Coxon resigned from Anthropic, stating that frontier labs are racing toward dangerous self-improving models and gambling with public safety. He warned that AI could kill us all by the end of the decade.
The reason why Trump decided to rename AI, and whether or not the new name will stick is still unclear.
Super intelligence is often linked to author and philosopher Nick Bostrom, who, more than a decade ago, defined the idea as an “intellect” that is superior to humans in all forms. He published Superintelligence, exploring the possibility of AI that could surpass human intelligence. Bostrom wasn’t referring simply to systems that outperform humans at chess by calculating more possibilities, or models that can instantly predict outcomes from vast amounts of data. He meant an intelligence capable of meaningfully exceeding human cognitive abilities.
While some people close to Trump have started using the term, according to reports, ‘super intelligence’ is unlikely to gain widespread traction in the industry because it is typically used to refer to more advanced systems.
Tech leaders such as Sam Altman, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have not commented about the renaming yet. Democrat Senator Ruben Gallego called it: “F***ing stupid.”
Digital ethics lecturer Simon Coghlan from The University of Melbourne said: “The rebranding is misleading, as super intelligence typically refers to a system that has the ability to improve by itself. I doubt ‘SI’ will stick, in part because it exaggerates the current capacities of AI. A super intelligent system, if it came about, would be regarded by experts as the most consequential technology ever made.
As per a BBC report, US-based computer scientist Kokil Jaidka said: “Not all AI platforms today exude super intelligence. The new name borrows the prestige of a term researchers reserve for a much bigger leap.”
Ben Leong, computer science lecturer at the National University of Singapore, said: “My guess is that professionals will want to save ‘SI’ for a higher level of AI, not so much to describe AI today. It doesn’t feel like it’s at that level yet.”
Journalist and host of American TV show The View, Sara Haines said on the show: “He’s not just renaming it; he’s completely looking aside [the real AI threats.]”
Fox Trot cartoonist Bill Amend joked on social media about the practical downstream consequences of the abbreviation change, writing: “OpenAI lawyers are currently scrambling to lock down OpenSI trademarks and web domains…”
While support for the name change appears to be less prominent, there has also been some commentary in favour of Trump’s proposal.
Michael Drager, deputy assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of International Organization Affairs, sent an official email to employees stating: “Following the US President’s remarks, please change all references of ‘artificial intelligence’ to ‘super intelligence’ in our documents and positions. We will be using ‘SI’ in all remarks, positions and press elements moving forward.”
US Chief Technology Officer Ethan Klein wrote on social media: The super intelligence (SI) president has spoken! The United States is and will remain the global leader in SI.”
Trump’s ambassador to the UN Michael Waltz later said: “If you didn’t see the president’s speech, it’s now super intelligence. I think he’s absolutely right.”