AI becomes SI: What if Trump insists on changing its name?

On Thursday (October 8), Trump warned on his social platform Truth Social that anyone who refuses to use "super intelligence" and continues to use "artificial intelligence" will be considered an "enemy" by the White House.

In September, Trump raised the issue of renaming AI at the United Nations General Assembly, saying, "The word artificial seems false and sounds false, but in fact it is not, it is great."

Since then, Trump has also signed an executive order requiring government agencies to use this new concept.

Jean-Pierre Dube, a marketing professor at the University of Chicago, analyzed that the White House is worried that concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) and data centers may stifle the core engine of economic growth and hand over its technological leadership to China. But the name change may just be wishful thinking.

Is "super intelligence" scarier?

Trump even launched a survey on his social platform, Truth Social, and the result was that "super intelligence" beat another option, "superior intelligence."

Agence France-Presse reported that the American people believe that Trump’s enthusiasm for artificial intelligence is too high. Many Americans use artificial intelligence but are concerned about its security consequences and threats to jobs. The construction of giant data centers has also raised concerns.

A recent Quinnipiac University survey shows that nearly a quarter of voters are satisfied with Trump’s stance on artificial intelligence, while 58% are dissatisfied.

"If we think the word 'artificial' triggers fear, then 'super' sounds even more worrying," said marketing professor DuBo.

Ronald Kline, a historian at Cornell University, said that "superintelligence" means no longer just imitating humans, but surpassing human intelligence.

The term artificial intelligence was coined in 1956 during a summer seminar at Dartmouth College. Academics from diverse backgrounds—mathematicians, psychologists, engineers—want computers to “think” like humans. Computers at the time were still huge computing machines.

How is the AI ​​industry reacting?

Agence France-Presse reported that ChatGPT did not need to change its statement in accordance with Trump's executive order, because the executive order is only effective for federal departments. Still, some executives in the industry are following the president's lead.

The Associated Press was criticized by Trump for refusing to rename the "Gulf of Mexico" to the "Gulf of the United States."

Musk was very supportive of the new name "superintelligence" and used the concept in his X post.

A Washington-based industry lobbyist told AFP the industry was expected to take a pragmatic approach. "I estimate that this word will be used when necessary, such as when communicating with the government. It is not worth insisting on using AI instead of super intelligence."