Donald Trump is not satisfied with the name of one of the most talked-about technologies in recent years. The President of the United States wants to replace the expression artificial intelligence (AI) with superintelligence, which he considers more precise and, above all, more pleasant to hear.
On Thursday (8), Trump went beyond personal preference and stated that the White House regards as enemies those who insist on using the traditional term. The statement was published on his Truth Social network and reinforces a change he had already decreed for federal government agencies.
But all of this clashes with the scientific definition of each concept. In the field of technology, superintelligence has its own meaning and describes a stage much more advanced than the artificial intelligence we know today.
Why does Trump want to change the name of artificial intelligence?
Trump’s preference for superintelligence publicly emerged in September, during the United Nations General Assembly. On that occasion, the president stated that the term sounded better and advocated its adoption to refer to AI technologies.
The initiative also comes amid the resistance of part of the American public to the expansion of the sector. The growth of data centers, which require large amounts of energy and water, has prompted protests in communities concerned about the impacts of these facilities.
In this context, the naming change aims to build a more favorable image of the technology. The word superintelligence suggests an extraordinary advance, although there is no evidence that merely changing the term will alter public perception.
Trump formalized the decision in a September decree, ordering federal agencies to adopt the new terminology. The document, however, uses as reference the legal definition of artificial intelligence already existing in the United States.
What is the difference between artificial intelligence and superintelligence?
Artificial intelligence is already present in everyday activities, such as conversing with personal assistants, translating texts, or receiving content recommendations. These are systems developed for tasks that require abilities associated with human intelligence, although their operation is different from ours.
Superintelligent artificial intelligence represents a much more advanced stage. The concept describes an intelligence capable of far surpassing human performance in virtually all cognitive activities, including those that require creativity and complex reasoning.
The term gained prominence with philosopher Nick Bostrom of the University of Oxford, author of the book Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies, published in 2014. In the work, he examines the possibilities and risks of systems whose intellectual capacity would exceed that of humans.
This technology is still hypothetical. Even the most advanced AI models currently available exhibit limitations in reasoning and reliability. There is also no scientific consensus on when, or even whether, a superintelligence will be developed.
For now, the change is limited to the American federal government. The decree requires public agencies to adopt the term superintelligence in their official communications, but it does not obligate private companies or citizens to abandon the term artificial intelligence.
Tech companies also already use the word superintelligence, though with different meanings and objectives. Meta, for example, adopted the term to identify its research area focused on developing more advanced AI systems.
For those who use tools like ChatGPT or Gemini, nothing changes. The products continue to operate the same way, and the new nomenclature does not alter their capabilities or usage rules.
Trump’s statement about considering enemies those who maintain the term artificial intelligence also did not come with concrete measures. So far, the American government has not announced sanctions or penalties for those who continue using the traditional name.
James Whitmore