What’s in a name? What China and Trump call AI reveals how they see its future
US President Donald Trump wants to banish the word “artificial” from artificial intelligence, saying it makes one of the world’s most consequential technologies sound “fake”. Across the Pacific, however, China’s name for the technology has long carried a different connotation – one that places humans, rather than artificiality, at its centre. Trump last week signed an executive order directing US…
Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing the US government to replace the term "artificial intelligence" with "Super Intelligence" in official communications. This change aims to reflect the technology's rapidly evolving capabilities and limitless opportunities. Meanwhile, China has long referred to AI as "rengong zhineng," a term that emphasizes human involvement and work in its creation.
The Chinese term's components, "ren" (human) and "gong" (work or labour), combined with "zhineng" (intelligence), result in a more human-centric perception of AI. This linguistic distinction, which dates back to 1980 and the emergence of AI as an academic discipline in China, contrasts with Trump's attempt to elevate the technology's status.
While some may view the shift from "artificial intelligence" to "super intelligence" as elevating AI's capabilities, Chinese linguists argue that the human element will remain integral to the term, regardless of the technology's level of intelligence. As AI systems increasingly rely on human input for training and improvement, the future of both the US and Chinese AI terminology could face challenges.
Written by urgent.news from SCMP Tech's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
