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In today's column, I explore the ongoing saga of how the moniker "artificial intelligence" has been received over its approximately seventy-year history, including a recent offhand remark made by President Trump last week during his AI summit speech, suggesting that perhaps it is time to rename AI to something more fitting.
Let's talk about it.
This analysis of AI breakthroughs is part of my ongoing Forbes column coverage on the latest in AI, including identifying and explaining various impactful AI complexities (see the link here).
There were several important and impactful announcements about AI made by the White House and President Trump on July 23, 2025, at the Winning the AI Race summit held in the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC. In addition to signing three Executive Orders regarding AI, President Donald Trump gave a speech to highlight various present and future aspects of AI.
During the speech, he seemed to make an ad hoc remark about the phrasing of AI, which caught the eye of some but was generally overlooked by many as an ad hoc mid-thought commentary.
Here's the pertinent portion from his speech (excerpted):
Observe that the suggestion involved the consideration that "artificial intelligence" as a moniker is potentially an understatement of what the technology bodes for. The emphasis seems to be that the word "artificial" is insufficient to adequately capture the immensity of the technology.
The word "artificial" certainly has varying connotations, both favorable and unfavorable.
Sometimes, artificial implies that something is a mere imitation. For example, we might say that a bouquet of plastic flowers isn't real; they are merely artificial. That's one way of interpreting the word. Another even less favorable interpretation is that artificial refers to being pseudo or half-baked, such as saying that a person's smile was artificial.
You might be wondering how we landed on the AI moniker to begin with.
The now-popular phrase "artificial intelligence" has gone through many ups and downs during its roughly 70-year-long history, but managed to survive and endure. There have even been times when the phrase was highly heralded and placed nearly on a pedestal. Other times have not necessarily been so laudatory. We've seen periods where attempts have been made to either maneuver the phrase into the background or perhaps replace it entirely.
How did the phrase get started?
By and large, the most agreed-upon official starting point occurred in 1955. It was documented in a famous research proposal entitled "A Proposal for the Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence" by J. McCarthy, M. Minsky, N. Rochester, and C. Shannon, August 31, 1955 (excerpts):
The essence of the phrase is that we want to devise computers that can exhibit intelligent behavior equal to or surpassing that of human intelligence. Note that the computer doesn't necessarily have to be some kind of recreation of the human brain. If we could bring forth intelligent behavior by simply using a vast assortment of Legos, that would be fine and provide the intended outcome.
It is not unusual that the names of technology might change over time. A new technology can start with one name, then others are floated as a potential replacement, and a Darwinian battle ultimately determines which one will get the final nod. The skirmish entails a semblance of what society and culture deem worthy and fashionable.
Consider a vivid example that illustrates this principle.
Today, we readily and without hesitation refer to the online world as the Internet. There was a time in the 1970s, 1980s, and somewhat into the 1990s when other verbiage was fighting for prominence. You might be vaguely aware that a big initial push was to refer to the online approach as the information superhighway.
Lots of variations came and went. There was the info superhighway, data superhighway, and electronic superhighway. Notice that the "superhighway" remained consistent, while the word preceding it was the item in question. This might be likened to keeping the word "intelligence" in the AI phrase and seeking to find some other first word besides "artificial".
Catchier ways of expressing the information superhighway also appeared. There was the infobahn, a clever recasting of high-speed autobahns for cars. Another competing phrase was the World Wide Web, abbreviated as WWW. In the end, we have come to use the Internet moniker and seem to have little memory of the lengthy trials and tribulations of coalescing on this vaunted final phrasing.
Per a point made famous by American entrepreneur Jim Rohn: "Vocabulary enables us to interpret and to express. If you have a limited vocabulary, you will also have a limited vision and a limited future."
AI has had a topsy-turvy history.
Moments have arisen that a belief in striking gold and finally achieving full-on intelligence via computers was considered immediately on the horizon. When those hoped-for accomplishments did not arise, the AI moniker shifted to being more so a sour name rather than a badge of honor.
Likewise, AI-adjacent technologies, or some would say subsumed technologies, often rose to prominence and seemed to supersede the AI moniker.
During the days of expert systems, some eschewed the AI name in favor of referring to expert systems, rules-based systems, knowledge-based systems, and so on. AI was relegated to the backseat as a naming convention. If anything, AI at that time was used mainly to mention robotics and other physically aimed constructs.
That line of technology gradually waned and no longer carried the cachet it initially had. Today, seasoned technologists cheekily refer to that tech as GOFAI, good old-fashioned AI. The irony is that there is a chance that the technology will make a comeback.
Let's suppose that we wanted to find a moniker that would replace the "artificial intelligence" phrase on a go-forward basis.
There are some crucial factors to consider. The new phrase needs to be relatively short. Perhaps two words in length, maybe three at the most. A one-word phrase probably wouldn't be sufficient. The use of four words would be clunky and unwieldy.
The moniker would seem to need to include the word "intelligence" or at least some similarly invocative word. Thus, we would have one word in front of intelligence, or perhaps one word after intelligence, or maybe two such words.
It must be catchy and roll off the tongue. The new phrase must be easy to say and easy to write. The nature of its abbreviation would also be an important element in overall acceptance.
We want to avoid using a phrase that is already in common use. Any pre-existing phrase will already have baggage associated with it. The use of an existing phrase for an entirely new connotation would undoubtedly sow confusion. There might also be conflicts with trademarks or other awkward entanglements.
Another facet would be to reject the use of the word "artificial" due to its variation in meaning. Assume that we are desirous of getting rid of artificial from the moniker. We aim to formulate a two-word or three-word catchy phrase that could live up to the assumed bright future of the technology.
Noodle on that puzzle.
One possibility is to use Machine Learning (ML) or possibly Machine Intelligence (MI) as a replacement moniker. Great, maybe we've found a handy-dandy replacement. Easy-peasy.
Sorry to say that it turns out that both of those have already been tried. Generally, in the in-between status of expert systems and modern-era generative AI, there was a great deal of attention on machine learning and devising machine intelligence. The ML moniker especially gained a lot of traction.
Nowadays, ML and, to some degree, MI are considered backroom words that are mainly used amongst techies. The customary viewpoint now is that ML and MI are subsets of the broader field of AI. Not everyone concurs with that point. Some believe that it is insulting or perhaps demeaning to classify those vital areas in that manner.
Let's do more brainstorming.
We could try using the phrase Computational Intelligence (CI). It retains the desired word "intelligence," and it is a succinct two-word phrase. The issue is that the word "computational" seems exceedingly flat. You aren't likely to be stirred by the word. The phrase lacks sizzle as a replacement for the AI phrase.
What about Synthetic Intelligence (SI) or possible Algorithmic Intelligence (AI)?
People generally like the word "synthetic" as used in the phrases of synthetic biology and synthetic oil. It's considered a cool word. In the case of Algorithmic Intelligence, a nice touch is that the AI abbreviation would be a helpful carryover. The downside is that the word "algorithmic" isn't any better than "artificial" in the sense that, if anything, it seems less inspirational.
There are a lot more of these kinds of candidates. We might consider Cognitive Computing (CC), which ditches the word "intelligence" by using a reference to cognition instead. Does the proposed phrase seem rousing? Probably not.
And so on.
Maybe the two-word sphere is limited and not conducive to our pursuit.
Try these three-word-sized possibilities and see if any of them seem fitting:
- Cognitive Artificial Intelligence
- Cognitive Machine Intelligence
- Cognitive Synthetic Intelligence
- Cognitive Algorithmic Intelligence
- Cognitive Computational Intelligence
- Cognitive Digital Intelligence
- Cognitive Neural Intelligence
- Cognitive Quantum Intelligence
- Cognitive Augmented Intelligence
- Cognitive Enhanced Intelligence
- Cognitive Advanced Intelligence
- Cognitive Super Intelligence
- Cognitive General Intelligence
- Cognitive Collective Intelligence
- Cognitive Distributed Intelligence
- Cognitive Contextual Intelligence
- Cognitive Emotional Intelligence
- Cognitive Social Intelligence
- Cognitive Relational Intelligence
- Cognitive Ethical Intelligence
- Cognitive Creative Intelligence
- Cognitive Practical Intelligence
- Cognitive Strategic Intelligence
- Cognitive Tactical Intelligence
- Cognitive Operational Intelligence
- Cognitive Analytical Intelligence
- Cognitive Decision Intelligence
- Cognitive Predictive Intelligence
- Cognitive Prescriptive Intelligence
- Cognitive Descriptive Intelligence
- Cognitive Normative Intelligence
- Cognitive Procedural Intelligence
- Cognitive Declarative Intelligence
- Cognitive Contextualized Intelligence
- Cognitive Personalized Intelligence
- Cognitive Adaptive Intelligence
- Cognitive Responsive Intelligence
- Cognitive Proactive Intelligence
- Cognitive Reactive Intelligence
- Cognitive Anticipatory Intelligence
- Cognitive Reflective Intelligence
- Cognitive Intuitive Intelligence
- Cognitive Insightful Intelligence
- Cognitive Holistic Intelligence
- Cognitive Systemic Intelligence
- Cognitive Interconnected Intelligence
- Cognitive Networked Intelligence
- Cognitive Integrated Intelligence
- Cognitive Unified Intelligence
- Cognitive Synergistic Intelligence
- Cognitive Collaborative Intelligence
- Cognitive Cooperative Intelligence
- Cognitive Interdisciplinary Intelligence
- Cognitive Transdisciplinary Intelligence
- Cognitive Multidisciplinary Intelligence
- Cognitive Cross-disciplinary Intelligence
- Cognitive Intersubjective Intelligence
- Cognitive Dialectical Intelligence
- Cognitive Phenomenological Intelligence
- Cognitive Hermeneutic Intelligence
- Cognitive Pragmatic Intelligence
- Cognitive Constructivist Intelligence
- Cognitive Postmodernist Intelligence
- Cognitive Critical Theory-based Intelligence