From Artificial to Super: unpacking the great intelligence rebranding. A lighthearted look at AI’s latest identity crisis.
If you’ve been following my Blog series, Embracing the World of AI as a Gen X-er you know I’m all about embracing AI, whatever we’re calling it this week. In case you were not aware, I am a Gen‑X’er who has survived almost every tech renaming ceremony since dial‑up.
When Did AI Start Trying On New Nicknames?
So apparently we’re flirting with the idea of calling Artificial Intelligence “Super Intelligence” now. Sure. Why not. Gen‑X has lived through the Information Superhighway, Cyberspace, Web 2.0, The Cloud, The Metaverse, and whatever we were supposed to do with Google+. If tech wants to rebrand itself again, it can take a number and get in line behind all the other buzzwords we’ve outlived.
And apparently, as of this week, September 28, 2026, this isn’t just tech-industry terminology bingo. Super Intelligence’ has officially entered the political and technology vocabulary. “‘SI’ Versus ‘AI’ What We Know on New Order” – Newsweek, Sept 30, 2026
Honestly, at this point, a name change barely registers. We’re the generation that learned to fix a jammed cassette with a pencil and then somehow adapted to smartphones without a user manual. We’ve survived worse.
Call IT Whatever You Want
Here’s the thing: whether we call it AI, SI, IOU, PDQ or “that thing that writes my emails”, the name doesn’t change what the thing it actually does.
Renaming AI doesn’t magically make it smarter, scarier, or more futuristic. It doesn’t suddenly turn Claude, Copilot, Gemini, or any other tool into a sentient digital supreme authority. It’s still the same technology we’ve been learning to use, the same tool that helps us:
- Summarize a 40‑page PDF manual we’ve been avoiding
- Draft content without staring at a blank screen for two hours
- Brainstorm ideas when our brains are fried
- Automate the boring stuff
- Learn new skills without feeling like we’re back in a college library.
The real story isn’t the label. It’s about the leverage.
A You Can Call Me AI, SI, GPT, or Botty McChatbot
Some days I feel like songwriter, Paul Simon saw the future in his 1986 song, You Can Call Me AL.
In the song, he asked, “Who’ll be my role model now that my role model is gone?”
And here I am in 2026 thinking, “Who’ll be my chatbot now that my chatbot is gone?”
AI keeps trying on new names LLM, SI, AGI, whatever the acronym of the week is, but honestly, I’m with Rhymin’ Simon on this one. You can call it whatever you want.
You can call it Al, but just don’t call me ‘Shirley‘.
Why I’m Still Calling It AI
AI has become part of my workflow, my creativity, my career development, and honestly… my sanity. It’s the digital sidekick that helps me work smarter, not harder, something our generation has absolutely earned.
So if someone wants to call it “Super Intelligence,” fine.
If someone wants to call it “Synthetic Intelligence,” okay.
If someone wants to call it “Botty McChatbot,” awesome.
If someone wants to call it “Skynet,” I’ll raise an eyebrow but still keep on going.
But me?
I’m still calling it AI, because that’s what it is, and because I’m not here for unnecessary politics and drama. I’m here for the practical magic of what it can do.
The Real Point of This Series
…or why I bother with writing this blog series in the first place!
This blog series, Embracing the World of AI as a Gen X'er, isn’t about chasing the latest acronym. It’s about helping people (especially my fellow Gen‑X’ers) understand what AI actually means for our work, our creativity, and our everyday lives. I’ve spent decades watching technology reinvent itself, and I’ve learned that the name matters a lot less than what the technology lets people do.
It’s about making Artificial Intelligence feel:
- approachable
- useful
- empowering
- and maybe even a little fun
Remember that William Shakespeare even said: ‘What’s in a name?’ Names will come and go. But the value of AI, or whatever we call it, will only get stronger.
My Closing Thought
At the end of the day, AI has been through more identity crises than most of us went through in high school. The term Artificial Intelligence was introduced in connection with the Dartmouth research project in the 1950s with the landmark Dartmouth workshop taking place in 1956. A bunch of brilliant researchers sitting around trying to imagine what machines might someday be capable of. They weren’t thinking about chatbots writing emails or helping Gen‑X’ers rediscover their career mojo; they were dreaming about the future.
And here we are, living in that future, watching AI try on new names like it’s standing in front of a mirror before prom. Whether we call it AI, SI, CIA, IOU, TMI, or “that thing that keeps my inbox from becoming a crime scene,” the truth is simple: the name doesn’t define the technology , our relationship with it does. We’ve survived every tech rebrand since dial‑up, and we’ll survive this one too. So sure, let AI experiment with new labels if it wants.
This blog isn’t supposed to sound like a white paper from the Department of Artificial Intelligence Terminology. (If that's even a real thing!) It’s supposed to sound more like I’m standing at the edge of a technological amusement park, my arms crossed, eyes rolled, saying, “Fine! Show me what this thing actually does.”
But until it starts doing my laundry, I’m sticking with the name that’s carried it from 1956 to today: AI.
