Trump says he will ban the term artificial intelligence
Banning a word doesn't change the thing it describes, and that's the first thought that comes to mind with this announcement. Trump's objection seems to be that "artificial intelligence" is inaccurate, and he's not entirely wrong. The term covers everything from chatbots to self-driving car research, and plenty of what gets labeled AI is really just statistical pattern matching. But a Truth Social post declaring a ban on the phrase in "all relevant documents and everything else" is mostly theater. It's hard to imagine a federal employee being told to stop saying AI and suddenly the technology becomes clearer.
The Wall Street Journal angle is interesting too, though the report cuts off before explaining what set him off. It wouldn't be surprising if this is partly a reaction to coverage he didn't like, wrapped in a broader point about language. I'd want to know what specific documents he means and whether any agency is actually going to enforce this. My guess is it stays symbolic, but symbolic language from a president can still shape how people talk, and that's worth keeping an eye on.