How to Name an AI Chatbot That Users Want to Talk To: Dave Lee

Had he known ChatGPT was going to change the world, Sam Altman said last year, he would have spent more time considering what to call it. “It’s a horrible name, but it may be too ubiquitous to ever change,” he told comedian Trevor Noah during a podcast.

Naming any technology is difficult, but AI is doubly so. It has to evoke a sense of the cutting edge, be at once both sophisticated and safe, perhaps even friendly. A good name leaves room for the technology to grow and change without rendering its moniker obsolete or inaccurate. On top of all ...