Can AI mimic the human ability to define neologisms?

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: Georgiou, Georgios P.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Georgiou, Georgios P.
author_facet Georgiou, Georgios P.
contents One ongoing debate in linguistics is whether Artificial Intelligence (AI) can effectively mimic human performance in language-related tasks. While much research has focused on various linguistic abilities of AI, little attention has been given to how it defines neologisms formed through different word formation processes. This study addresses this gap by examining the degree of agreement between human and AI-generated responses in defining three types of Greek neologisms: blends, compounds, and derivatives. The study employed an online experiment in which human participants selected the most appropriate definitions for neologisms, while ChatGPT received identical prompts. The results revealed fair agreement between human and AI responses for blends and derivatives but no agreement for compounds. However, when considering the majority response among humans, agreement with AI was high for blends and derivatives. These findings highlight the complexity of human language and the challenges AI still faces in capturing its nuances. In particular, they suggest a need for integrating more advanced semantic networks and contextual learning mechanisms into AI models to improve their interpretation of complex word formations, especially compounds.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_14900
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Can AI mimic the human ability to define neologisms?
Georgiou, Georgios P.
Computation and Language
Artificial Intelligence
One ongoing debate in linguistics is whether Artificial Intelligence (AI) can effectively mimic human performance in language-related tasks. While much research has focused on various linguistic abilities of AI, little attention has been given to how it defines neologisms formed through different word formation processes. This study addresses this gap by examining the degree of agreement between human and AI-generated responses in defining three types of Greek neologisms: blends, compounds, and derivatives. The study employed an online experiment in which human participants selected the most appropriate definitions for neologisms, while ChatGPT received identical prompts. The results revealed fair agreement between human and AI responses for blends and derivatives but no agreement for compounds. However, when considering the majority response among humans, agreement with AI was high for blends and derivatives. These findings highlight the complexity of human language and the challenges AI still faces in capturing its nuances. In particular, they suggest a need for integrating more advanced semantic networks and contextual learning mechanisms into AI models to improve their interpretation of complex word formations, especially compounds.
title Can AI mimic the human ability to define neologisms?
topic Computation and Language
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.14900