On Tuesday, Trump announced that the US government would rename AI “SUPER INTELLIGENCE” or SI in official communications. This technology featured prominently at the summit between U.S. and Chinese leaders this week in Washington.
After his talks with his Chinese counterpart, Trump wrote on his social media platform: “like almost everyone else, (Xi Jinping) seemed to appreciate that artificial intelligence, a misnomer and inaccurate, was being renamed with a much more accurate and important name: SUPER INTELLIGENCE.”
Beijing has neither explicitly confirmed nor denied this narrative.
On Saturday, however, the Chinese Foreign Ministry indicated that it “takes into consideration” the adoption of the “SI” by Trump.
“Regarding the terminology used to designate artificial intelligence, China takes into consideration the position of the United States and respects the wording adopted by the American side,” said a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a written response to the press.
“Artificial intelligence technologies continue to evolve. All parties can, taking into account the latest developments, strengthen their exchanges, deepen their discussions and seek consensus,” he added.
China and the United States also announced after the summit the creation of a “communication channel” dedicated to incidents linked to AI.
Donald Trump has repeatedly played down fears that artificial intelligence could threaten humanity. Xi Jinping took a more measured stance, saying such technology should remain under human control.
In the field of research, the term “superintelligence” does not usually refer to all artificial intelligence technologies, but to a hypothetical system beyond the cognitive capacities of large human organizations.
It is notably distinguished from artificial general intelligence, or AGI, generally defined as equal to or superior to human level in a wide range of tasks.
The American decision constitutes a change in political terminology: it does not mean that current systems have reached the level usually associated with superintelligence.
