Though the English language is rising, we’re witnessing a decline within the development of subtle phrases. New phrases are continually being added to our dictionaries, but lots of them are inclined to mirror traits in leisure and widespread tradition fairly than advances in thought. Phrases like “bootylicious,” “freestyle,” and “manscape” could also be amusing or well timed, however they reveal a sample: a lot of our trendy vocabulary is more and more formed by fashion fairly than substance.
On the identical time, few really new phrases have been launched to explain advanced or summary concepts. Take into account that phrases like “nationalism,” “existentialism,” and “mental”—now important in educational and political discourse—are comparatively trendy innovations. Such phrases gave us instruments to assume with, methods to debate intangible but necessary ideas. At this time, we appear to have stopped creating language for this type of considering.
That is the place ChatGPT is available in. Whereas synthetic intelligence is commonly mentioned by way of automation or productiveness, its potential as a inventive and mental companion is simply starting to be acknowledged. ChatGPT has entry to an intensive database of historic and modern language. It might probably carry out etymological searches, generate new phrases primarily based on established linguistic patterns, and help customers in refining obscure concepts into exact phrases.
Lately, I discovered myself trying to find a phrase to explain an idea that was unclear or underdeveloped—one thing that exists mentally however with out definition. Phrases like “free thought” or “obscure notion” felt insufficient. So I turned to ChatGPT for assist. Collectively, we explored the roots of present phrases and experimented with mixtures of sounds and meanings. From this course of emerged two neologisms:
- Blurion: a time period for an thought that’s current within the thoughts however stays hazy or ill-formed—like a blurred imaginative and prescient of an idea.
- Noncept: a phrase to explain one thing that seems to be an idea however lacks actual content material or coherence. It suggests the phantasm of thought with out substance.
Inspired by this course of, I continued exploring. With ChatGPT’s assist, I created:
- Gesturic: an adjective to explain bodily gestures or cultural expressions that mirror widespread traits—akin to social media poses, dances, or trend alerts. It refers back to the communicative energy of physique language inside trendy tradition.
- Ideonic: a time period referring to summary ideas, theoretical frameworks, or purely mental constructions. A philosophy like postmodernism, as an example, would fall underneath the class of ideonic thought.
These examples present how synthetic intelligence can contribute not simply to on a regular basis comfort, however to the very construction of our considering. Language doesn’t solely mirror our ideas—it shapes them. With out phrases to specific complexity, we threat shedding the flexibility to assume complexly. Because the Sapir-Whorf speculation suggests, the boundaries of our vocabulary could outline the boundaries of our cognition.
Fortuitously, ChatGPT presents a method to push these boundaries outward. By giving customers entry to the uncooked supplies of language—prefixes, roots, meanings, and histories—it permits the creation of latest phrases for brand spanking new concepts. This isn’t about changing pure language growth, however enhancing it. With considerate use, AI might help revive part of English that has been quietly fading: its energy to seize summary, delicate, and evolving types of thought.
Whereas widespread tradition will proceed to form language—because it at all times has—there may be room to create space for mental development as effectively. The problem is just not to withstand change, however to information it. If we wish to maintain English a wealthy and versatile software for human expression, we should maintain inventing the phrases we’d like. With curiosity, creativity, and instruments like ChatGPT, we are able to start to put in writing the subsequent chapter ourselves.
