Artificial Intelligence is Changing English Dictionaries

After AI was selected as the Collins Dictionary Word of the Year, artificial intelligence has once again launched an attack on the English language this week.

This time, the impact is more subtle but far-reaching. The first example comes from the Cambridge Dictionary's 2023 Word of the Year: "illusion".

It is an ancient word, but it won the award because it has a new meaning. In the latest version of the Cambridge Dictionary, the definition of "illusion" has added an additional definition:

"When artificial intelligence (= a computer system with some human brain traits, such as generating language in a seemingly human way) has illusions, it produces incorrect information."

To illustrate this concept, the entry also includes two examples:

1. Large language models (LLMs) are famous for their illusions - generating completely wrong answers, often accompanied by fictional references.
2. The latest version of chatbots has made great improvements, but they still fantasize about facts.

For example, ChatGPT may provide dangerous medical advice incessantly. Security analysts are concerned that the illusions of robots may also push malicious code towards software developers.

The Cambridge Dictionary is also at risk.

Wendalyn Nichols, the publication manager of the book, said: "The tendency of generative artificial intelligence tools to create illusions will ensure that our users continue to trust us critically."

"The emergence of the new meaning of illusion is a good case. It is human experts who track and capture language changes, making the Cambridge Dictionary a trusted source of information about new words and meanings - which artificial intelligence tools that the public faces have not yet learned."

The second language impact of artificial intelligence

The new meaning of illusion is not the only sign of artificial intelligence in the Cambridge vocabulary.

In 2023, the dictionary editors have added various definitions related to artificial intelligence, including large language models (LLMs), generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), and GPT.

With the pace of current technological development, the impact on the 2024 dictionary may be even deeper.

As the explosive growth of generative artificial intelligence continues, perhaps artificial intelligence will simply create the next Word of the Year.