The term “artificial intelligence” has been lobbed about in the semantic tennis match we call the Internet so often over the past decade that I don’t think it retains any real meaning for most of us. Our TVs, watches, doorbells, thermostats, toasters, and cars are called “smart” now, and “smart” is another word for “intelligent,” so “artificial intelligence” means we can control the crispness of heated bread from the shower. Let us not forget that one of the definitions of “artificial” is: pretended; assumed; insincere. From that perspective, I would argue that much of the recent egregious behavior of our government officials could be termed “artificial intelligence,” although whether the “intelligence” part applies at all is debatable. Maybe “artificial leadership” is more apropos.
