Hey, shortwafers, Emily Kwong here. So every generation has its own set of slang. My generation does, yours does. I'm sure words are coming to mind right now. And each word has its own interesting evolutionary story. But these days, there is a unique tool influencing language. And that is technology. Gen Z has popularized the words, unalive, Skibbitty, Riz, and fueling these and other phrases are algorithms.

That's what we're excited to explore today in a special episode from the podcast, Ted Tech.

Linguist Adam Alexic gets into the nitty-gritty of how social media algorithms are reshaping the way we communicate

and how we view

ourselves. I hope you enjoy.

Language is this organic, fluid thing, constantly shifting and growing alongside humanity.

And in the 21st century, our language might now be shaped by

the spaces we're using it in, namely the internet. Think about it. What if the very way we

communicate, the words we choose, and the nuances of our slang are being influenced, subtly, but significantly,

by the algorithms that power

our favorite social media platforms.

It's a curious thought, isn't it?

That a word might exist

not just because a community coined it,

but because a digital system favored it,

amplified it, and pushed it into our collective

consciousness.

This is TED Tech, a podcast from the TED Audio Collective. I'm your host, Shirel Dorsey.

Our next speaker is a linguist, who has had a front row seat to this evolution.

Adam Alexic has watched firsthand how the digital currents are shaping the very fabric of our communication.

Now he's here to share how words like Unalive or Riz go from niche slang to mainstream phenomena, and the surprising, sometimes

uncomfortable implications of this algorithmic influence. Adam's talk is a re-examination of our own

...