China “respects” Washington’s switch in phrasing from artificial intelligence to “super intelligence”, the foreign ministry said on Saturday, after Donald Trump said Xi Jinping appeared to like the rewording.
The US president announced on Tuesday that his administration would rename AI as “super intelligence”, or SI, in official communications.
The technology was high on the agenda during the summit between the US and Chinese leaders in Washington this week.
“Like almost everyone else, (Xi) seemed to like calling the poorly and inaccurately named Artificial Intelligence to a far more accurate and important name, SUPER INTELLIGENCE,” Trump wrote on his social media platform after talks with Xi.
China has not explicitly confirmed or denied Trump’s characterisation of the discussion.
However, Beijing’s foreign ministry said on Saturday it “attaches importance” to Trump’s adoption of the term.
“Regarding the artificial intelligence phrasing question, the Chinese side attaches importance to the US side’s position and respects the US side’s wording,” the ministry said in a statement.
“Artificial intelligence technologies are continuously developing, all parties can strengthen exchanges, discuss in-depth and seek consensus in light of the latest situation,” said the statement from an unidentified ministry spokesman said.
China and the US agreed to set up a “communication channel” for AI incidents, both sides said after the summit.
Billionaire Trump has repeatedly dismissed fears that AI could pose a threat to humanity, although Xi has taken a more measured tone and said the technology must develop under human control.
