The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has signed an executive order for the federal government to replace the term "Artificial Intelligence" (AI), inteligencia artificial, with "Super Intelligence" (SI), súper inteligencia, in its communications and documents. The measure was signed on September 29 and affects the departments and agencies of the U.S. Executive.
The order, titled Inaugurating The Era Of Super Intelligence, establishes that agencies must use "Super Intelligence" and "SI" in official correspondence, public communications, websites, reports, policy documents, and other non-legislative documents of the Executive.
The White House presents the change as a response to the evolution of the most advanced technological systems. According to the order, their capabilities would no longer be limited to imitating or automating specific aspects of human intelligence, but would expand human capabilities and open new possibilities in fields such as science and medicine.
What the decree understands by "super intelligence"
The executive order itself introduces a relevant nuance: for its immediate application, "Super Intelligence" does not yet have its own legal definition. The decree establishes that, for the purposes of the order, the term encompasses the technologies and systems currently included in the legal definition of "artificial intelligence".
This definition appears in Title 15 of the United States Code and describes artificial intelligence as a machine-based system capable of making predictions, recommendations, or decisions that influence real or virtual environments based on objectives defined by people. The regulation also contemplates the perception of those environments, the automated creation of models, and the use of inferences to formulate options for information or action.
Therefore, Trump's decree does not itself create a new legal category separate from artificial intelligence. What it establishes immediately is a change of nomenclature within the federal Executive, while a possible specific definition for "Super Intelligence" is prepared.
A new definition within 60 days
The next step planned in the order is the drafting of a legislative proposal. The president's assistant for Science and Technology must present to Trump, within 60 days from the signing, a text to establish a federal definition of "Super Intelligence" and "SI".
The proposal must study whether that definition should modify, expand, or replace the existing legal definition of artificial intelligence. It must also propose the necessary modifications to the laws that currently use the expressions "artificial intelligence" or "AI".
The document must also include recommendations on the presidential or executive actions that are necessary to apply the eventual new definition within the federal Government.