Trump just decided to rename artificial intelligence. That’s ‘super’ confusing

It might not seem like a big deal that US President Donald Trump has just tried to rename artificial intelligence – he unilaterally renames things all the time.

But the word he chose and the venue where he revealed it are both remarkable.

In a meandering address to the United Nations on Tuesday (early Wednesday AEST), Trump attacked the UN and other international bodies, pondered whether he should “annihilate” Iran and declared the US would officially refer to AI as “super intelligence” from now on.

“The use of the word ‘artificial’ makes intelligence fake – it makes it sound fake, and it is not fake,” he said.

“It's actually amazing, but we have to be careful. 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. 

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People keep saying AI could kill us all. How exactly?

“So it's super intelligence. In other words, welcome to the new world of super intelligence – SI.”

The word is loaded because “artificial superintelligence” is one of several terms used in the industry to describe AI that’s more powerful than humans. Others include artificial general intelligence, human-level AI and even strong AI.

There’s plenty of debate about what the right term is, what each term actually defines and even whether it’s useful to try to define such a development.

But when AI leaders and politicians warn about how the technology could go rogue or be harnessed by an evil actor to kill us all, this is more or less the level of AI that they’re talking about.

Several experts have suggested we could be just years away from that level of model – but the president renaming what currently exists seems unlikely to make the situation any clearer.

Trump had previously suggested renaming AI, calling it “ineloquent”. In a social media poll at the weekend he put forward superior intelligence, extreme intelligence and supreme intelligence as options.

In recent weeks, he has been rowing almost alone against a torrent of pleas to reign in the rapid development of AI.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joined with more than 20 global leaders on Monday to call for urgent action, insisting “AI must remain under human direction, oversight and control”.

“Recently we have seen capable AI systems circumventing testing safeguards, exploiting vulnerabilities and gaining unauthorised access to real-world systems,” they said in a joint statement.

“Leading scientists and executives are warning that the pace of development could outpace our ability to manage emerging risks.

“To realise AI's potential, industry, governments and society must act now. We must address these risks and strengthen oversight — without widening the gap between countries in access to the benefits of AI.”

Their call came in the wake of escalating calls for regulation, including from leaders of AI developers OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft and SpaceX owner Elon Musk.

Trump has repeatedly labelled the concerns a “hoax” and a “sick conspiracy”.

‘Big decision’ on Iran

Trump used the speech to the UN to defend his decision to go to war with Iran, arguing he showed fortitude while other leaders equivocated.

“The terrorist regime is behaving badly, not because they are strong and confident, but because they are weak and desperate," Trump said. 

“If we stand united, we will soon see a world free of the last 51-year menace of Iranian terror.”

He predicted he would strike a peace deal with Iran after the mid-terms but insisted they had no bearings on how he treated the Islamic republic.

"I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before?" he said. 

"Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries ​again?"

Shortly after the speech, Trump said US and Iranian officials had a “very good meeting” on Tuesday.

Attacks on international bodies

Trump renewed his criticism of international bodies ​that could serve as a check on US power, singling out the International Criminal Court and declaring that US military personnel would not be ​subject to its authority.

"We ⁠will never allow US service members or anyone else to be investigated or given show trials by an anti-American tribunal with no jurisdiction over us," he said.

He bragged about cutting the UN budget by 15 per cent and cutting more than 4000 positions.

“The United Nations has great, great potential,” he said.

“I've said that for many years, but it must stop imposing the far-left agenda of globalist bureaucrats who nobody ever elected.”

UN chief calls for 'world built on interdependence'

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pleaded for “a world built on interdependence” as he made his final address to the yearly gathering of world leaders.

This year they face a formidable menu of challenges – from climate change and war to inequality and artificial intelligence.

After years, urging leaders not to give up on cooperation and shared decision-making, Tuesday’s message took on additional urgency because he leaves office at the end of this year.

“The fault lines in our world are widening,” he said, citing raging wars, rising temperatures and artificial intelligence, among other matters. 

Instead of letting the future continue to veer toward fragmentation, transactionalism and mistrust, he called for “a world built on interdependence – and sustained by a dense web of economic, political, social and technological connections”.

– Reported with Associated Press and Reuters