The White House has launched an AI rebranding effort, stating that from now on, all US government officials will have to call it “super intelligence,” or SI. It’s unclear whether this is the administration’s attempt to wash away AI’s deteriorating reputation among the general public, a way to say these companies have reached the “AGI” they’ve been racing toward, or just the latest pivot by the administration’s mercurial leader.
The fact that its headline-making agreement misspelled the country’s name as “Unites States” is a hint, though.
Last week, President Trump brought together all the major AI leaders to sign a new “Joint Commitment on Frontier Responsibilities.” The document’s huge typo didn’t stop the president from hailing it as a landmark event.
In the aftermath, he and the tech titans repeatedly called the technology “SI,” though they often slipped up and called it “AI” and had to correct themselves. The actual substance of the agreement and subsequent discussions remains muted, however.
Weeks after the president claimed no regulation was needed and there was no real way to constrain AI, he conceded it was important and necessary, and that the US should lead the effort. But then the commitment with AI companies appears largely meaningless. TechCrunch notes that it’s completely non-binding, with the president making it clear in a discussion with reporters that companies would be free to police themselves.
“I think it’s morally binding,” said President Trump in a clip by ABC News.
But it’s not legally binding in any way, leaving little hope that any of the major companies will follow it to the letter, if at all.
That’s why many believe this was an attempt to wash away AI’s ailing reputation. Rebranding as “SI” may let companies claim that whatever they’re making next will be better and different and won’t deserve the negative attention AI has garnered over the past few years.
I don’t know if changing the acronym will help people hate “data center drone” or AI’s massive power and water consumption any less. Nor will it protect anyone’s jobs from AI-related redundancies.
