Every time I type “agentic AI” I get that red squiggle. Maybe my spell-checker is outdated, maybe the word is newer than I thought. I add it to my dictionary and move on.

We all do this now. Click “ignore,” keep writing, keep building.

But there’s something worth noticing in that small friction. We’re designing systems that negotiate on our behalf, make autonomous decisions, and act with real consequence. Yet the word that best describes their defining trait gets flagged by our own writing tools.

Language has always lagged behind technology. “Blog” got red squiggles in 2003. “Selfie” in 2010. What we’re seeing now feels different: the pace of AI development is creating a vocabulary gap that our everyday tools can’t bridge fast enough.

It’s not just about recognition. It’s about the quiet friction that happens when your concepts don’t pass the basic filters. When you’re constantly overruling your tools to discuss the future you’re already building.

The red squiggle isn’t the problem. It’s the symptom. We’re moving faster than our language infrastructure can keep up. And if you’re working in AI, autonomy, or any emerging tech space, you’ve probably felt this lag more than once.

We’re not just updating software anymore. We’re updating how we talk about systems that think and act. The dictionary updates will catch up eventually.

But right now, we’re writing ahead of the curve.