US President Donald Trump says the US will replace artificial intelligence (AI) with “super intelligence” in official documents.
Trump spoke on Tuesday during his address at the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
He said the US would begin using “super intelligence” (SI) instead of “artificial intelligence” in its official documents, arguing that the word “artificial” makes intelligence sound fake.
“The use of the word artificial makes intelligence fake. It makes it sound fake, and it is not fake. It’s actually amazing, but we have to be careful,” Trump said.
“In fact, it is exactly the opposite of what it purports. 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.
“In other words, welcome to the new world of super intelligence — SI. Let’s see if that goes. It sounds much better.”
Trump said every major new technology brings challenges, adding that the US would not restrict the development of super intelligence.
“These are the same people that are now saying that AI is going to kill us all, that robots are going to attack us, and that everything is going to be a total disaster,” he said.
He compared concerns about the potential dangers of AI with previous warnings about climate change.
Trump had strongly opposed climate change, calling it a “hoax and greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world’.
He noted that any country that leads in super intelligence would have a significant advantage globally.
“Whoever wins SI, whoever wins super intelligence, wins,” he said.
“That’s the group that wins. And we’re leading now over China by a lot and everyone else, and we’re going to keep it that way.”
The US president said he would not “stifle” the growth of the technology, which he described as potentially bigger than the Industrial Revolution or the internet.
Trump added that the US government would monitor the technology through the department of justice and other law enforcement agencies where necessary.
“We will only encourage super intelligence. We’re going to encourage it, not rein it in,” he said.
“The United States leads the world in super intelligence and will continue to do so safely and responsibly.”