AI, Elon Musk and Donald Trump add up to a turbulent 2025 for technology

You may have heard that the Oxford dictionary’s “word of the year” this year was “brain rot.”

I found that interesting for two reasons. The first is that it is clearly two words. The second is that unlike prior words of the year — like 2013’s “selfie” or last year’s “rizz” — “brain rot” is neither new nor changed from its original intended meaning. Its first use was recorded in 1854 and said to be “indicative of a general decline in mental and intellectual effort” — which, well, yeah.