The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Some links on this page are affiliate links: if you buy through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
No—not on the evidence available today. Current AI can summarize, generate images, write software and assist specialist work, but those successes do not demonstrate a broad, dependable intelligence that is superior to humans across domains. “Super Intelligence” is therefore a claim about capability, not a neutral replacement label.
That distinction is the point of Craig Grannell’s opinion piece in Stuff, published 10 October 2026. Grannell responds to a reported political campaign to replace “Artificial Intelligence” with “Super Intelligence,” arguing that the new phrase promises more than present systems consistently deliver. His criticism is not a rejection of useful AI; it is a demand that terminology follow demonstrated performance rather than branding.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
Is today’s AI really superintelligent?
There is no established evidence that today’s widely deployed systems meet the ordinary meaning of superintelligence: general, reliable performance that greatly exceeds human ability. They are powerful tools, but most are trained, tuned or integrated for particular tasks and can fail unpredictably outside familiar patterns.
Grannell’s standard is practical rather than futuristic. If a system is routinely useful in one context but also confidently wrong, unable to perform simple counting, intrusive, wasteful or optimized mainly to hold attention, he does not consider “super” an accurate description. A model can produce an excellent answer and still lack the dependable breadth implied by the label.
#1 Best Overall
- Read Before You Buy — No Video Output: These adapters support charging and USB 2.0 data transfer, but cannot transmit video signals. Except for standard USB webcams (which use USB data only), they are not compatible with HDMI/DisplayPort cables, video-capable USB-C hubs, or docking stations with video output.
- Convert USB-A Ports to USB-C: Designed to connect USB-C earphones, cables, flash drives, card readers, and other USB-C accessories to standard USB-A ports. Plug-and-play with no drivers or software required.
- Aluminum Alloy Housing: Built with a sturdy aluminum alloy shell that aids in heat dissipation and protects against daily wear and scratches. Designed to maintain a stable and secure connection.
- Compact & Travel-Friendly: The ultra-compact design allows the adapter to stay plugged into your device without blocking adjacent ports or adding bulk, reducing wear and tear on your original USB ports.
- 12-Month Warranty: Backed by a 12-month manufacturer warranty for peace of mind. Designed to meet strict quality control standards for reliable everyday performance.
The distinction matters because capability is uneven. A program may beat people at a narrow game, retrieve information quickly or generate fluent prose without understanding every subject, checking every claim or transferring its skill safely to a new situation. Calling that performance superintelligence collapses several different ideas into one promotional word.
Why are people calling AI “Super Intelligence”?
Grannell’s article was prompted by a reported political push to use “Super Intelligence” instead of “Artificial Intelligence.” He reports that Donald Trump presented “super” as a better description of technology he sees as transformative, that Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos reacted favorably, and that Trump later described people who continued saying “Artificial Intelligence” as “THE ENEMY.” Those statements are reported in the opinion article; the available account does not independently verify them.
The proposed rename performs two jobs at once. It markets AI as an extraordinary force and frames skepticism about the name as opposition to progress. That can be rhetorically effective, but it does not define a test, threshold or capability requirement. A label can raise expectations without making a system more accurate, more autonomous or more reliable.
Grannell objects to that gap between language and evidence. His position is that “Artificial Intelligence” remains the more honest umbrella term until systems consistently demonstrate the breadth and dependability that “super” suggests. The argument is about precision, not whether software can be valuable.
What is the difference between AI, AGI and ASI?
These terms describe different scopes of capability. They should not be treated as interchangeable names for the same products.
| Term | What it means | Status in the debate | What would count as evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI | The broad category of computer systems that perform tasks associated with human intelligence, such as prediction, language generation, perception or planning. | Existing technology, ranging from narrow applications to general-purpose models with many interfaces. | Performance on a defined task, with quality depending on the system, data, tools and operating conditions. |
| AGI | Artificial general intelligence: a hypothetical system with flexible, human-level competence across a wide range of intellectual tasks. | Not a universally agreed technical threshold and not established as a settled fact about current systems. | Broad transfer, learning and problem-solving across unfamiliar domains, measured consistently rather than by one impressive demonstration. |
| ASI | Artificial superintelligence: a hypothetical level of intelligence that vastly exceeds the best human performance across broad domains. | A future-oriented concept, not a synonym for every advanced AI product. | Sustained, independently evaluated superiority in reasoning, learning, creativity and practical decision-making, with safety and reliability intact. |
“Super Intelligence” in the political discussion resembles ASI in its implication of broad superiority, but it is not presented with a formal definition or measurement protocol. Using the phrase as a blanket replacement for AI can therefore make a speculative endpoint sound like the current technical baseline.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Rank #2
- 5-in-1 USB-C Hub: Experience comprehensive connectivity featuring a Power Delivery input, two USB-A 2.0 ports, a USB-A 3.0 port, and an HDMI port. (Note: The USB-C power delivery input port is only for connecting an external wall charger to power your laptop and cannot power peripheral devices.)
- 90W Pass-Through Charging: Achieve optimal charging with 90W pass-through power to your laptop, supported by a total input of 100W, with the hub reserving 10W for operational efficiency. (Note: Wall charger not included.)
- Quick Data Transfers: Accelerate your productivity with rapid data transfers using a high-speed 5Gbps USB 3.0 port and two 480Mbps USB 2.0 ports.
- 4K HDMI Display: Enhance your visual experience with a hub capable of delivering 4K resolution at 30Hz in both mirror and extend modes. Please note that this hub is compatible with MacBook (macOS 12 and newer), Windows 10 and 11, ChromeOS, and laptops equipped with DP Alt Mode and Power Delivery. Note: This device is not compatible with Linux.
- What You Get: Anker USB-C Hub (5-in-1, 4K HDMI), welcome guide, 18-month warranty, and our friendly customer service.
What shortcomings make the “super” label hard to defend?
Grannell lists recurring problems that, in his view, are incompatible with an unqualified claim of superiority. They are qualitative observations, not a quantified performance study, so they should be read as the author’s argument and experience rather than as a statistical estimate of every system.
Fluent recycling can look like knowledge
Generative systems can produce polished language by drawing on patterns in their training and prompts. Fluency does not guarantee that a statement is new, supported or correct. A system that presents recycled material as fact can mislead precisely because its confidence and style make verification easy to skip.
Simple counting and multi-step reasoning still fail
Models may solve difficult-looking problems and then make elementary errors in counting, ordering or following constraints. Tool use, code execution and external checks can reduce those failures, but they do not prove that the underlying model is reliably reasoning on its own. For consequential work, every result still needs a verification path.
Optimization for engagement is not intelligence
Products may be designed to maximize clicks, session length or conversational continuation. That objective can reward agreeable, provocative or attention-grabbing output instead of accurate, concise answers. A system that keeps a user engaged while being wrong is commercially effective in one sense, but it is not demonstrating superhuman judgment.
Resource use and waste are part of performance
Grannell raises concerns about the resources required to operate large systems and about outputs that are unnecessary, repetitive or inefficient. “Super” should not describe only an impressive answer while ignoring the energy, compute, time, data handling and human review needed to obtain it.
Intrusion, safety and intellectual-property questions remain
Deployment can create privacy and surveillance risks, expose sensitive information, or make automated decisions that are difficult to contest. The article also points to safety and intellectual-property rights. These are not side issues: a system that is highly capable but unsafe or legally unusable cannot be treated as an all-purpose superior intelligence.
Rank #3
- Sleek 7-in-1 USB-C Hub: Features an HDMI port, two USB-A 3.0 ports, and a USB-C data port, each providing 5Gbps transfer speeds. It also includes a USB-C PD input port for charging up to 100W and dual SD and TF card slots, all in a compact design.
- Flawless 4K@60Hz Video with HDMI: Delivers exceptional clarity and smoothness with its 4K@60Hz HDMI port, making it ideal for high-definition presentations and entertainment. (Note: Only the HDMI port supports video projection; the USB-C port is for data transfer only.)
- Double Up on Efficiency: The two USB-A 3.0 ports and a USB-C port support a fast 5Gbps data rate, significantly boosting your transfer speeds and improving productivity.
- Fast and Reliable 85W Charging: Offers high-capacity, speedy charging for laptops up to 85W, so you spend less time tethered to an outlet and more time being productive.
- What You Get: Anker USB-C Hub (7-in-1), welcome guide, 18-month warranty, and our friendly customer service.
Basic utility remains uneven
Some applications save time; others add correction work, irritate users or fail at the exact edge cases that matter. The relevant question is not whether AI ever helps. It is whether a system can be trusted to help across changing conditions without creating larger downstream costs.
Does criticizing “Super Intelligence” mean rejecting AI?
No. Grannell explicitly says he is not anti-AI and acknowledges the possibility of genuine breakthroughs, including in medical research. His objection is to overstating current capability, not to using machine learning, language models or automation where they produce verified benefits.
Recommended Free Tools
This distinction allows two statements to be true at once: AI can accelerate a valuable research workflow, and an AI assistant can still invent a citation or mishandle a simple instruction. Responsible adoption depends on matching the system to a bounded job, checking its output and accounting for risks rather than treating a successful demonstration as proof of general superiority.
What evidence would justify calling a system “super”?
A defensible claim would require more than a viral demo or a model’s score on one benchmark. Readers and institutions should look for evidence across several dimensions.
- Breadth: performance across language, mathematics, science, planning, perception and real-world tasks, including unfamiliar problems.
- Reliability: stable results over repeated trials, with low rates of fabricated facts, hidden assumptions and catastrophic errors.
- Adaptability: the ability to learn new tasks and constraints without extensive retraining or fragile prompt engineering.
- Independent evaluation: testing by parties that did not build or market the system, with methods and limitations made public.
- Transparency: clear information about training data, tool use, uncertainty, human oversight and known failure modes.
- Safety and rights: evidence that privacy, security, intellectual-property and accountability requirements remain effective at scale.
- Efficiency: useful performance relative to the compute, energy, latency and human checking required.
No single pass mark settles the question, and the available account of Grannell’s article contains no named statistic or quantified study establishing that current AI meets such a standard. That absence is important: the “super” case remains an assertion, not a demonstrated consensus.
Is “Super Intelligence” a technical classification or marketing language?
Without a shared definition and test, it functions primarily as persuasive language. The contrast can be stated plainly:
Rank #4
- Dual Converters, Infinite Potential：Includes 2× USB C male to USB A female adapters and 2× USB A male to USB C female adapters. Perfect for a wide range of uses—tablets with Bluetooth keyboards, expand USB ports on macbook, and more. Two different converters for all your daily needs
- Next-Level 10Gbps & 3A Charging: No more slow 480Mbps, this usb to usb c adapter has a transfer speed of up to 10Gbps, allowing you to do more transferring in less time. This usb adapter fits both USB A and USB C charger, supporting up to 3A fast charging
- Upgraded Exquisite Craftsmanship: With an aluminum alloy housing and metal connector, the usbc to usb adapter is extremely durable and sturdy. Rigorously tested to withstand more than 10,000 times of plugging and unplugging, ensuring long-lasting performance
- Broad Compatible: The usb c to usb adapter widely supports all USB C/ USB A devices like laptops, tablets, cellphones, car chargers, and phone chargers. Such as compatible with MacBook Pro/Air 2023/2022, Thunderbolt 4/3 Devices,Apple MagSafe Watch 9/8/7/SE/Ultra, iPad Pro 2022/2021, Samsung Galaxy S23/S20/S10, and iPhone 17/16/15 Pro. Plug and play
- Please Note: To reach 10Gbps speed, keep the cable under 3.3 ft. For USB A Male to USB C adapters, try flipping the USB C connector. USB C Male to USB A adapters support bidirectional 10Gbps transfer within 3.3 ft
| Question | Capability-based terminology | “Super Intelligence” as a broad slogan |
|---|---|---|
| What does it describe? | A system’s observed abilities, limits and operating conditions. | An overall impression of extraordinary power. |
| How is it checked? | Task-specific evaluations, error analysis and independent replication. | Often by demonstrations, product claims or political rhetoric. |
| What does it help users do? | Choose an appropriate tool and decide where human review is required. | Encourages expectations that the system will handle almost anything. |
| What can go wrong? | Users may miss a narrow limitation, but the scope is stated. | Hype can obscure present harms and make criticism sound like hostility. |
Marketing language is not automatically false, but it should not be mistaken for a scientific category. If a provider or politician uses “super,” the useful follow-up is: super at what, compared with whom, under which conditions, and with what error rate?
How should you evaluate a claim that an AI system is “super”?
Use the claim as a prompt for verification, not as a conclusion. A short checklist can prevent the label from doing the thinking for you.
- Define the task. Replace “intelligent” with a concrete job, such as summarizing a contract, detecting a disease pattern or controlling a robot.
- Set the failure cost. An incorrect movie recommendation and an incorrect medical suggestion require entirely different safeguards.
- Test unfamiliar inputs. Include edge cases, ambiguous wording, adversarial examples and requests outside the system’s favorite demonstrations.
- Require sources or working. Check citations, calculations, code and assumptions independently; do not treat confident prose as proof.
- Measure consistency. Repeat equivalent tasks and record both successes and failures instead of selecting the best output.
- Check the operating burden. Include latency, cost, energy, data access, privacy exposure and the time needed for human correction.
- Keep a human decision-maker. For high-impact choices, the person accountable for the outcome must be able to inspect, challenge and override the system.
This process does not require dismissing AI. It turns a vague superlative into a decision about a specific tool and a specific risk.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What does the naming dispute mean for policy and public debate?
Names shape expectations. If officials describe ordinary AI products as superintelligence, the public may expect near-perfect performance and underestimate current weaknesses. That can distort funding priorities, procurement decisions and regulation: attention shifts toward hypothetical future systems while privacy, labor, safety and accuracy problems already present receive less scrutiny.
Conversely, refusing every ambitious term can hide real progress. A balanced vocabulary distinguishes deployed AI from proposed AGI and hypothetical ASI, states what has actually been tested, and identifies who is making the claim. It also leaves room to update the label when capabilities, evaluations and safeguards genuinely change.
For journalists and educators, attribution is essential. Grannell’s “THE ENEMY” wording and his criticism of “Super Intelligence” belong to a dated opinion article, not to a settled technical consensus. Reporting the political claim, the author’s judgment and the independent technical definitions as separate layers gives readers a clearer picture than repeating any slogan unqualified.
Best Value
- 5-in-1 Connectivity: Equipped with a 4K HDMI port, a 5 Gbps USB-C data port, two 5 Gbps USB-A ports, and a USB C 100W PD-IN port. Note: The USB C 100W PD-IN port supports only charging and does not support data transfer devices such as headphones or speakers.
- Powerful Pass-Through Charging: Supports up to 85W pass-through charging so you can power up your laptop while you use the hub. Note: Pass-through charging requires a charger (not included). Note: To achieve full power for iPad, we recommend using a 45W wall charger.
- Transfer Files in Seconds: Move files to and from your laptop at speeds of up to 5 Gbps via the USB-C and USB-A data ports. Note: The USB C 5Gbps Data port does not support video output.
- HD Display: Connect to the HDMI port to stream or mirror content to an external monitor in resolutions of up to 4K@30Hz. Note: The USB-C ports do not support video output.
- What You Get: Anker 332 USB-C Hub (5-in-1), welcome guide, our worry-free 18-month warranty, and friendly customer service.
What is the defensible conclusion?
“Artificial Intelligence” remains the accurate general term for the systems people use now. Some are remarkably capable, but capability in selected tasks is not the same as broad, reliable superiority. Until that stronger claim is demonstrated and independently evaluated, “Super Intelligence” is better understood as a political or marketing description than as a replacement for the established technical category.
Grannell captures his position this way: “So until the AI that surrounds me really is consistently super, rather than so often wasteful, irritating, obtrusive and objectively wrong, I’m sticking with the old term.” The practical lesson is to judge systems by tested performance, limitations and consequences—not by the grandeur of their name.
Windows Errors? Fix Them Before They Spread
Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallOutdated Drivers Are Slowing You Down
One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchFrequently Asked Questions
Can an AI system be superhuman without being superintelligent?
Yes. A system can exceed people at a narrow activity, such as searching a large database or recognizing a pattern, while lacking broad competence. Superhuman performance on one task is not evidence of artificial superintelligence across domains.
Could AGI exist without ASI?
Yes. AGI usually means roughly human-level general ability, whereas ASI implies ability far beyond the best human performance. A system could reach broad human-level competence without becoming vastly superior.
Why do AI systems sound confident when they are wrong?
Generative models are optimized to produce likely responses, not to guarantee truth. Fluent wording can therefore appear certain even when the model lacks supporting evidence or has misapplied a pattern.
What should a company disclose before calling its product superintelligent?
It should publish the tested tasks, comparison baseline, error rates, evaluation conditions, known limitations and human-oversight requirements. Independent replication and clear information about data use and safety controls are also necessary for the claim to be meaningful.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsQuick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
