Trump Calls for Replacing 'AI' With 'SI'... Declares Terminology Change in Federal Government Documents

[Financial News] Experts have reacted skeptically to U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal to use the term 'superintelligence' (SI) instead of artificial intelligence (AI), the BBC reported.
Meanwhile, officials in the Trump administration have already begun using the new term.
Referring to AI on the 22nd (local time), President Trump proposed using the term 'superintelligence' (SI) instead, saying that the term AI "makes it sound as if (AI technology) is fake." He added, "Welcome to the new world of superintelligence, SI."
He made the remarks during his keynote address on the first day of the general debate of the high-level segment of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
He said, "Starting now, all United States federal government documents will use 'super,' a more accurate term, rather than 'artificial,'" and expressed hope that the entire world would adopt his terminology change.
According to the BBC, President Trump conducted a poll on the social media platform Truth Social over the past week, asking users what term would be best to replace 'AI.'
In a multistage user poll, 'SI' ranked first, ahead of 'superior intelligence,' 'extreme intelligence' and 'supreme intelligence.'
However, the BBC noted that it remains unclear whether Trump's proposed terminology change will be widely adopted by the technology industry.


This is because the term 'superintelligence' is already used in a different sense in the technology and philosophical communities.
Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to computer technology that enables machines to perform tasks traditionally considered to require human intelligence.
By contrast, the term 'superintelligence' became widely used after a 2014 book by Swedish philosopher and author Nick Bostrom, titled *Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies*, became a bestseller. Its meaning is somewhat different.
In the book, Bostrom defined 'superintelligence' as "an intellect that vastly exceeds the cognitive performance of humans in virtually all areas of interest." He used the term to refer to the level of intelligence of future AI that would vastly surpass the abilities of the greatest human geniuses in history across all intellectual domains, including scientific creativity, problem-solving and social skills.
Such 'superintelligence' is still considered not to exist in the real world.
Simon Cullen, an associate professor at the University of Melbourne who teaches digital ethics, told the BBC that he was skeptical of Trump's proposal, explaining, "I doubt that the term SI will be used as President Trump has proposed. One reason is that it exaggerates the current capabilities of AI."


He said, "If superintelligent systems come to exist, experts would consider them the most influential technology ever created."
Computer scientist Kokil Zaidka, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS), said, "Not all AI platforms today give off the feel of superintelligence." He assessed that the term SI "borrows the authority of a term researchers use when writing about a much greater leap."
Computer scientist Ben Leung, an associate professor at NUS, said, "I think experts will want to reserve the term 'SI' to describe a more advanced stage of AI that has not yet emerged, rather than use it to describe current AI. It feels as though we are not at that level yet."
However, officials in the Trump administration began using 'SI' as a replacement for AI on the very day, the 22nd, that Trump announced his proposal.
Ethan Klein, deputy director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and U.S. Chief Technology Officer (CTO), wrote on social media, "The president has spoken: superintelligence (SI)! The United States is currently leading the world in superintelligence and will continue to do so."
Michael Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said, "It is 'superintelligence' now. I think the president is absolutely right."


[email protected] Lee Seok-woo, International Affairs Correspondent Reporter