Before the UN, Trump renames artificial intelligence

Before the UN, Trump renames artificial intelligence

Donald Trump announced before the United Nations General Assembly that the United States would replace the term "artificial intelligence" with "super intelligence," abbreviated SI. In his speech on September 22 in New York, the American president presented this change as official and asked that American documents adopt this term.

The word "artificial" annoys him because it supposedly gives the impression that this intelligence is fake, whereas Trump considers the technology fantastic. He therefore finds "super" more accurate, and above all more pleasant to hear. It's still a rather questionable way to choose the vocabulary for a technology whose real capabilities-particularly its potential for harm-are already the subject of much debate.

Trump had polled his followers on Truth Social, his social network, with a survey offering variations around an extreme, superior, or supreme intelligence. The "super intelligence" ultimately chosen wasn't even among these options, which gives a pretty good idea of how useful the consultation actually was.

For now, the announcement concerns the words the American government must use, and Trump hopes other countries will follow suit. His speech does not detail the timeline for replacement in documents nor the implementation procedures. So we cannot conclude that companies in the sector have changed their terminology or that administrations have already revised their texts.

Except that "superintelligence" already has a meaning in computer science research, and it's far more ambitious than just a new name for current software. It refers to a hypothetical artificial intelligence whose intellectual capabilities would surpass those of humans, including the most gifted ones. Using this word for the entire sector erases this rather useful distinction.

Software capable of translating your mail or helping you code doesn't gain any additional capability just because Washington files it under the "super" category. In the same part of his speech, Trump rejected a global organization for AI oversight and stated he wants to encourage its development, with oversight handled by the US Department of Justice. He also claims a lead over China, without presenting any technical comparison to back this up in the speech. In short, just typical Trump.