Executive Order On Renaming AI To ‘Super Intelligence’ Signals Unexpected Legal Bumps Ahead

In today’s column, I examine the recently released White House executive order that seeks to rename Artificial Intelligence and AI to be referred to as Super Intelligence and SI. You might have heard about this in the news or on social media. Lots of online buzz has focused on whether this is just political theatre and perhaps has no other significant impact.

I’ve opted to take a different or more eye-opening approach by analyzing the potential legal complexities that this name change is likely to bring forth. The downstream legal consequences are something no one seems to be giving significant airtime to. One perspective is that all that needs to happen is swap out “AI” for “SI”, and swap out “Artificial Intelligence” for “Super Intelligence”, and the whole matter is quietly concluded. Done and finished. But the devil in the details comes into view when you begin to think about the definitional twists and turns. Does SI have the same definition as AI? Or does SI deserve its own definition that differs from the definition of AI? Keep in mind that lawyers are going to have a field day when it comes to federal government contracts and the legal language underlying SI and Super Intelligence. A legal quagmire might be looming on the horizon from the simple act of changing the names of modern-era technology.

Let’s talk about it. This analysis of AI breakthroughs is part of my ongoing Forbes column coverage of the latest in AI, including identifying and explaining key AI complexities (see the link here).

Backstory About The Meaning Of AI

Before we dive into the new executive order, I’d like to set the stage regarding the definitional history of Artificial Intelligence and AI. For my in-depth coverage on the heady topic, see the link here.

Executive Order On AI To SI

There are two main parts to the EO:

The Name Swap

Here is the essence of the name swap portion of the EO (excerpts):

Let’s unpack those stipulations.