United States president Donald Trump has declared plans for the U.S. government to refer to artificial intelligence (AI) as “super intelligence” (SI) in official documents.
During his speech to the 81st United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, September 22, Trump made the announcement. He also voiced opposition to attempts to create more extensive international regulations over the technology.
“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,’” Trump said during his speech.
The announcement does not change the technology itself; rather, it is essentially a change in terminology. The commonly used technical term for computer systems that can carry out tasks related to human intelligence is still “artificial intelligence.” In contrast, the term “superintelligence” is frequently used in AI discourse to refer to a hypothetical type of intelligence that might greatly outperform human cognitive capacities.
Trump also rejected calls for greater global regulation of AI, arguing that the United States should continue encouraging technological development. Reuters reported that he said the U.S. would monitor the sector through the Department of Justice while opposing efforts to impose new international restrictions.
The announcement coincides with ongoing discussions about the development, regulation, and safe management of artificial intelligence among governments and technology leaders. António Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, has urged increased international collaboration and discussion regarding the future of the technology.
