‘Authentic’ Named Word of the Year as AI Blurs Line Between Real and Fake

Merriam-Webster Inc. chose “authentic” as its word of the year, highlighting how misinformation on platforms like Elon Musk’s X Corp. and the rise of artificial intelligence have made it harder to assess what’s real and what’s fake.

The rise of artificial intelligence has made it harder to assess what’s real and what’s fake. (Pixabay)

Merriam-Webster Inc. chose “authentic” as its word of the year, highlighting how misinformation on platforms like Elon Musk's X Corp. and the rise of artificial intelligence have made it harder to assess what's real and what's fake.

“The line between ‘real' and ‘fake' has become increasingly blurred,” Merriam-Webster's Editor at Large Peter Sokolowski said in a statement. “As a result, in social media and marketing, authentic has become the gold standard for building trust.”

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Searches for authentic “saw a substantial increase in 2023, driven by stories and conversations about AI, celebrity culture, identity, and social media,” the dictionary company said. It describes the word as an aspirational quality that celebrities such as Taylor Swift and Musk strive to build identity around.   

The dictionary said queries for “deepfake” spiked in April, when Tesla Inc. lawyers claimed Musk's statements on self-driving safety may not have been real. Searches for “X” stood out in July, when people were trying to understand Musk's Twitter rebrand.

Other 2023 standouts include “dystopian,” “indict,” and “coronation.” Last year's top word was “gaslighting.”

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