Evolution of technology plays into latest Oxford English Dictionary update

Generative artificial intelligence, talkboard and dumb phone are among the new technological words and phrases that have entered the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).

The dictionary’s latest update includes more than 500 new and revised words, phrases and senses including psych, swear jar, and a host of words related to talking.

As AI and technology have continued to evolve over the last quarter, the language around it has followed suit.

Among the new additions to the OED is generative artificial intelligence or AI which describes “a form of artificial intelligence designed to produce output, especially text or images, which were previously thought to require human intelligence”.

While this language has become more common of late, the dictionary says the earliest known use of the phrase dates back to the early 2000s.

Talkboard has also been added which relates to “an online forum or chat room”, as well as dumb phone, a phone which does not have smart technology.

It comes as some people are switching back or getting an additional basic mobile phones to help minimise their screen time.

As the new year is set to see a number of general elections across the world including in the UK, a few political terms have been entered including chumocracy.

The dictionary has defined the word as “a government or the exercise of power characterised by the appointment of friends and associates to positions of authority, without proper regard to their qualifications or to due process”.

Phrases related to profanity have also made an appearance as swear jar and swear box have made the latest update, as well as the quintessentially British expression to eff and blind.

Psych, used playfully when someone is playing a prank, has also been entered alongside -splain, following the rise of words such as mansplaining.

The dictionary has also revised some of its talk-related words with talkaholic, talkfest and the Talk all being entered.

To qualify for the list, the OED requires several independent examples of a word being used and evidence that it has been in use “for a reasonable amount of time”.

The dictionary is updated on a quarterly basis, and the updates make up the third edition of the OED.

A statement from the OED said: “The material added to the dictionary includes revised versions of existing entries (which replace the older versions), and new words and senses both within the alphabetical sequence of revised entries and also across the whole A to Z range.”