Dictionary publisher Van Dale picks ‘hallucinating’ as Word of the Year
Dictionary publisher Van Dale has chosen its Word of the Year in Belgium and the Netherlands: hallucineren, or the “hallucinating” of generative AI language models.
Van Dale describes “hallucineren” as “providing information that is not based on (reliable) data and is therefore inaccurate or completely incorrect”.
“Hallucineren is not a new word, but it has recently acquired this meaning,” Van Dale says. “We chose this word because it reflects an important development in society and in language. AI applications also use language to answer user questions, sometimes ‘saying’ things that are incorrect and thus influencing our vocabulary.”
'Linguistic mirror'
Unlike in previous years, there were no voting rounds prior to the election of the Word of the Year. The publishers chose the word themselves. Last year, the election in the Netherlands was hijacked by action groups, who called for people to vote for or against certain words.
Van Dale has chosen the Word of the Year for Belgium every year since 2007, creating “a linguistic mirror of the times” based on the trends and emotions that attracted attention during the year.
“The words we use tell us something about how we talk to each other and what we think and feel,” Van Dale said. “Language shows what is on our minds and we can often capture the spirit of the times in a single word.”
Last month, the Oxford English Dictionary picked "rage bait" as its word of the year: described as manipulative tactics used to drive engagement online, with usage increasing threefold in the last 12 months, according to the publisher.
#FlandersNewsService | © PHOTO PHILIP DULIAN / DPA
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