What We Mean When We Say Superintelligence
A word that does a lot of work and very little defining. A short glossary for a long argument.
Specimen: sample text, to be replaced
Arguments about superintelligence often fail before they start, because the people having them are using the same word for different things.
Three words, three claims
Artificial general intelligence usually means a system that can learn and perform most intellectual tasks a person can, across domains, without being rebuilt for each one.
Superintelligence usually means something further: a system that substantially exceeds the best human minds across most domains, including the ones that matter for strategy, science and persuasion.
Takeoff is the word for how fast one might become the other. Slow takeoff gives institutions time to adapt. Fast takeoff does not.
Most disagreements about superintelligence are disagreements about speed.
Why the definitions matter
If you believe the step from general to superhuman is slow and visible, you will want to watch, measure and regulate as it happens. If you believe it could be fast, you will want the safety work done before the step is taken. The same evidence reads very differently depending on which you assume.
A habit worth keeping
When someone says a system is or is not "really" intelligent, ask which of these they mean. Then ask what observation would change their mind.