![\"Merriam-Webster](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/merriam-websters-ai-model.jpg\")
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\t\t\tIllustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins \/ Futurism. Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Everything is getting stuffed with AI these days, no matter how pointless its inclusion may seem. Your spell-checker,<\/a> your local drive-thru<\/a>, your fridge<\/a> \u2014 nothing is safe.<\/p>\n So you can understand why we were alarmed when Merriam-Webster, the dictionary company, announced that it was releasing its own large language model, too.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is the dawn of the AI era,\u201d says a narrator in a video shared by the company<\/a>. \u201cAnd we are proud to introduce our latest large language model.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt never hallucinates. It does not require data centers, and uses no electricity,\u201d the booming voice continues. \u201cIt\u2019s a powerful tool that will change how you communicate \u2014 forever.\u201d<\/p>\n Then the video cuts to the reveal. It\u2019s Merriam-Webster\u2019s newest \u201cCollegiate Dictionary,\u201d the 12th edition, which was announced<\/a> last week. A glorious, actually physical book, slowly rotating. Not a prompt box in sight. A red tome, as opposed to a black box<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s artificial intelligence,\u201d another voice says. \u201cAnd then there\u2019s actual intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a great bit of trolling that also spells out everything that\u2019s wrong with AI \u2014 and above all, how silly it is that everyone\u2019s rushing to adopt what remains an incredibly experimental form of technology with sketchy benefits and innumerable downsides. That the video\u2019s gone slightly viral is a testament to the anxiety surrounding that rush: we\u2019re all holding our breath and wincing in anticipation of which of our favorite brands or celebrities will suddenly cave to the stuff.<\/p>\n What also makes it especially pertinent is that the tech\u2019s relationship to our \u201cactual intelligence,\u201d as Merriam-Webster\u2019s video puts it, is pretty scary. Research has shown how depending on the chatbot can atrophy our critical thinking skills<\/a> and even erode our memory<\/a> \u2014 not to mention leading some folks down a delusional and dangerous mental health spiral<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, schools and colleges are finding ways to force AI tools onto their pupils, too, with one university making all its new students to use AI in class<\/a>. There\u2019s also, we have to mention, the rampant cheating<\/a> that chatbots get used for. Why actually learn stuff when ChatGPT can spit out an entire essay for you? In fairness to lazy students, some of their professors are using the tech<\/a> as well.<\/p>\n Anyway, the new \u201cCollegiate Dictionary\u201d has been 22 years in the making. It comes with 5,000, brand-spanking new words, like \u201crizz,\u201d \u201cbeast mode,\u201d \u201cdoomscroll,\u201d and \u201cdumbphone\u201d \u2014 all of the hot new lingo that we\u2019re sure will age just as fine as this current bout of AI quackery. It may not be able to scour the entire internet for answers or use tens of thousands of GPUs to \u201cthink\u201d hard about questions like \u201chow many Bs are there in the word \u2018blueberry’\u201d and still get it wrong<\/a>, but hey: the ol\u2019 printed word is doing an admirable job of keeping up with our whirlwind times.<\/p>\n