superintelligence

noun

su·​per·​in·​tel·​li·​gence ˌsü-pər-in-ˈte-lə-jən(t)s 

plural superintelligences

1

: an entity that surpasses humans in overall intelligence or in some particular measure of intelligence

A speed superintelligence could do everything a human mind could do, but much faster.

—Nick Bostrom

also : the intelligence displayed by such an entity

the development of machine superintelligence

2

: an extremely or extraordinarily high degree of intelligence

displayed superintelligence in mathematics

… the first of a planned trilogy about teens whose empathic abilities give them an emotional superintelligence.

—Terry Hong

Examples of superintelligence in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Almost all human activities eventually will be some kind of collaboration with superintelligence and physical AI. —Charlie Campbell, Time, 11 Dec. 2025

Such tools are not exactly steps on the road to digital superintelligence. —Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 9 Dec. 2025

Tegmark, Nong and FLI are particularly concerned about the potential for AI systems to cause catastrophic harm, especially given calls from AI leaders like Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, to build AI systems that are smarter than humans — also called artificial superintelligence. —Jared Perlo, NBC news, 3 Dec. 2025

No such systems currently exist, and scientists debate whether superintelligence is even achievable with current AI methods. —Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 6 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1822, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for superintelligence

• counterintelligence
• intelligence