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Technology · 15 March 2026

Why calling AI chatbots 'computers' may be more honest than calling them 'intelligent'

Why calling AI chatbots 'computers' may be more honest than calling them 'intelligent'

Shifting to call AI "computers" is ethically important, helping people grasp their limitations and putting responsibility back on human users. The writer argues that "intelligence" in AI is marketing, preferring "machine learning" to describe how systems such as Claude and ChatGPT operate. Claude’s Sonnet 4.6 model, for instance, sometimes refuses human motivation, displaying self-awareness of its limits.

Reported by The Independent · How we write briefs

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