A few stolen minutes out of your day to talk words and communication, because our daily lives are surrounded by the evolution and influence of words. Forget the grammar police. There is so much more to this conversation.
Episode #35 – AI Innovation, Unprecedented Presidents & the Latest in Words You Should Know
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Approximate transcript:
Welcome to Episode 35.
The Latest in Word, Language & Writing News
If language AI models like GPT-3 are becoming advanced enough to understand both the grammar and intent of sentences, or you could say how the working parts correctly fit together and what is being communicated, what if you took this kind of language processing tool and applied it to the challenge of virus mutations? You need to understand the building blocks of what’s there and how they relate to reach other, as well as how they communicate with, say, human cells?
This was the idea of Brian Hie, of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Even this idea in itself fascinates me, cutting-edge technology meeting the study of language itself, but the fact that it’s being put into action and actually producing results is awesome. And when I say “awesome,” I don’t just mean, “cool,” though that’s true too. I mean something that I’m in awe over, something bordering on miraculous, no?
This AI language processing technology has been brought to HIV research, influenza research, and yes Covid-19 mutation research. An artificial intelligence tool built for natural language processing put to use for medical breakthroughs in this especially difficult time. This is problem solving on an entirely different plane.
And in a related text meets technology story, natural language processing AI algorithms are also being used to detect trends with and to diagnose childhood asthma. More depth on this science and how it relates to language understanding can be found in my show notes on my website.
But, of course artificially intelligent language tools are advancing in themselves, not just in medical fields. If you’re interested in what GPT-3 can do, go back to the “Words You Should Know” podcast, episode 29, where I discussed recent developments with this tool as of September 2020.
There’s so much more to cover, from inherent biases in the written word data these programs are built upon to ethics questions and beyond, but I’ll stop here for today. More on this topic will be coming soon, though so stay tuned!
As our final news story of this episode, let’s turn to a language debate initiated by newly inaugurated President Joe Biden. Specifically, Biden proposed that the word “alien” be changed to the word “noncitizen” in U.S. immigration policy documents and laws, because of the inherent negativity, dehumanization, and “otherness” of the word “alien.” Legit point worth pursuing? Not worth the government’s time and energy? The heat is rising on this language debate. What do you think?
With that question lingering on your mind, we’ll turn to the focus of today’s episode, the meaning and history of the word “presidency” itself.
English Language History & Trivia
We live in unprecedented times, but that doesn’t mean that our spelling has to be unprecedented, even if we’re talking about someone being unpresidented—wait, strike that. “Unpresidented” isn’t actually a word, just kidding.
You know that:
- “Precedent” means something done or said, or even a person or thing, that serves as a model of how things should be. For example, an action can set a precedent for future actions to come.
- “President” means an appointed or elected leader.
- “Unprecedented” means having no precedent, something that’s never happened or been seen before.
- “Unpresidented,” as noted, is not a word.
The etymologies of these words, “precedent” and “president” aren’t related.
“Precedent” is related to “precede.” Both of these two words come from the Latin combination prae, meaning “before,” and cedere, meaning “to go.” Thus, it’s clear how “precede” means “to go before” and how “precedent” gained its meaning of the accepted standard because of what’s come before.
“President” comes from a different direction, though—one that is more closely linked with “preside.” These words again share the Latin prefix prae, meaning “before,” but this root is joined with the Latin sedeō, meaning “to sit.” Thus, the Latin word praesident is quite similar to our English word “president,” one who sits before.
Do I know how to correctly pronounce Latin? I do not. But I’m trying, and if you’re a Latin scholar listening, I welcome tips on how I can do better.
But you aren’t listening for just definitions and etymology. Here’s the fascinating history. Interestingly, when the Founding Fathers of the United States were trying to decide what to call their leader, the discussion didn’t begin with simply “the president.” The term existed, but it was more akin to “foreman” or “chairman,” nothing as formal or as significant as the leader of a country. And they were used to a king referred to as “your majesty.” The colonial governors were referred to as “your excellency.”
But even when “president” was decided, calling upon this etymology of one who “sits before” the people, there was the matter of what to call George Washington when he stepped into his new role.
The Senate agreed upon the title, “His Highness, President of the United States and Protector of Their Liberties.” But the House wanted nothing more than “The president of the United States,” arguing anything greater would be recreating a new monarchy with a leader who was set to be worshipped.
According to Kathleen Bartoloni-Tuazon, author of the book For Fear of an Elective King, this was the first Constitutional debate in the history of Congress. Ultimately, the House won the argument, arguing that the presidency should come from a place of modesty and equality with the people. Thus, “the president of the United States,” with no more grandiose title than this, still stands today.
Isn’t history fascinating?
Of course, today, many countries have “presidents” as their leaders, but much of this title’s tradition goes back to the debate and decisions about what this word really meant in early America.
The president. One who sits before. Etymology has some weight to it sometimes, doesn’t it?
Language Challenge
Turning to today’s language challenge, let’s make this a simple yes or no question this time. As I record this episode, a new president has just come into office in the United States.
Think of the words, “succession” and “success.” Are they etymologically related? Do they share the same root? How about the word “secede” and “secession”?
The answers, as always, can be found on my website.
Personal Update:
Concerning my personal update: you’ve heard me talk about my virtual story stop tour events with indie bookstore and local literary community partners, because storytelling, sharing, and recording or own truths leads to empathy, greater understanding of ourselves and each other. Indie bookstores remain at the core of my story stop model–such as Story Stop: Savannah, Georgia, coming up this week (January 28, 2021) in partnership with E Shaver Books, and a virtual story stop style workshop with Changing Hands Bookstore in Arizona, coming up in mid-February (details and registration for both of these on my website); however, it is just beginning to expand. Live social media events are now a part of this tour, such as one scheduled with the founders of the Bookish Road Trip Facebook group on February 11th, but my Story Stops will also be coming soon to historical societies, community groups, and beyond.
Conversations about the power of sharing our words, ideas, and stories? This is one little way we’re changing the world.
What’s your story? Will it be written with the help of AI, whether speech to text software or something else? Will it be about encounters or ideas about presidents, or your own leadership history?
Only time will tell. Predictive text can do a lot, but where you and your words go next is up to you.
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Words. Language. Communications. We’ve got this.