WIRED's Backchannel is reporting that President Donald J. Trump has issued an executive order declaring the term "artificial intelligence" no longer acceptable for government use, directing that it be called "Super Intelligence" instead. It said Trump signed the order this week at a White House lunch with top AI industry leaders, following a September 23 speech at the United Nations in which he hinted he wanted to discard the term.
WIRED said the president's earlier remarks had seemed like bluster, even for a leader known for renaming gulfs, lakes and arts centers, and that renaming an entire field of study and the nation's most pivotal industry appeared unlikely. It said Trump followed through with the executive order, and that he clearly expects the private sector to adopt the new name.
The outlet also reported that billionaires who had for years spoken obsessively about AI meekly went along with the change. It said that because industry leaders remained silent, Trump could claim they actively blessed his idea.
WIRED noted that the term artificial intelligence dates to a 1950s meeting of scientists at Dartmouth College, where John McCarthy proposed the name for the emerging field. It said a Google Scholar search for the phrase returns roughly 7,420,000 results.