A Guide for Describing Emerging Technology
When writing scientific manuscripts, authors often need to describe advancements in their field. Even as an academic writer, your job is to illustrate the importance of these advancements and get your audience excited enough to continue reading. But how do you do this?
A common technique for emphasizing the importance of new scientific progress is through buzzwords. Phrases like ‘cutting-edge’ and ‘state-of-the-art’ are valuable tools for signaling the progress a unique research methodology, a novel experiment, or technological breakthrough represents. Here, we’ll go through a list of good words to use when describing emerging technology, give context when needed, and finally provide some terms to avoid.
Simple but Powerful Adjectives
Advanced – Modern, recently created, or ahead of development/progress. Excellent general- use ‘future’ word.
Disruptive – Innovative or groundbreaking. Often used to describe a technology or system that represents a significant divergence from the established function of an industry.
Groundbreaking – Entering previously unexplored territory or introducing new ideas or methods. Good for describing research or technological breakthroughs.
Innovative – Advanced, original, of featuring new methods. Good for describing specialized technologies or systems.
New – Freshly introduced or previously untried. Simple but effective and can describe almost anything. Often used in combination with other words (i.e. “an innovative new technology”)
Novel – A new or interesting way of doing something. Good for formal descriptions of new experimental techniques or research approaches. Less emotionally charged than other examples on this list.
Pioneering – Involving new ideas or methods. Particularly in the United States, the word ‘pioneer’ is tied heavily to the past. As a result, using it summons an emotional response of historical importance, establishment, and legacy.
Revolutionary – Involving or causing a complete or dramatic change. While not a technical term, ‘revolutionary’ carries a huge emotional charge. As a result, it is excellent for driving home the significance of a development or breakthrough.
Sophisticated – Developed to a high degree of complexity. Good for describing emerging technology or new research techniques but can also describe more established (albeit highly developed) subjects.
Exciting Futuristic Phrases
Cutting-Edge – The forefront or vanguard, particularly for technological development. Referring to the edge of a knife, this is a highly evocative term. Good for use in less formal settings, where the more metaphorical nature of the phrase will not feel out of place.
High-Tech – Short for ‘high technology,’ this phrase refers to advanced technological development, especially in electronics. This phrase should not be used formally as it is more akin to slang than any technical term.
Leading-Edge – Essentially the same as ‘cutting-edge,’ but with slightly less impact due to the reduced imagery. This can make it better in more formal writing where ‘cutting-edge’ seems too colloquial.
State-of-the-Art – Belonging or relating to the most recent stage of technological development or having/using the latest techniques or equipment. Closest in use to ‘advanced,’ ‘innovative,’ or ‘sophisticated.’ The phrase has an official sound about it and can lend significance or importance to a description.
Tricky Phrases to Watch Out For
New Age
This first one is tricky because while it is used to describe futuristic things with some regularity, the term also refers to the New Age movement. When capitalized, ‘New Age’ refers to a range of spiritual and religious beliefs which rose to prominence in the western world in the 70s. As a result, it is probably better to avoid this one to avoid confusion.
Space Age
Like the previous term, ‘space age’ is sometimes used to describe emerging technology but more commonly refers to a historical period associated with progressive or futurist thinking. While technically continuing today, the Space Age has its strongest relevance in the mid to late 20th century. Now that the technology that defined that era, such as rockets, nuclear power, and even space travel, is relatively commonplace, the phrase can have a diminished impact.
Bleeding Edge
This term follows after phrases like ‘cutting edge’ and ‘leading edge,’ but it’s not entirely positive while it does imply advanced technology. While ‘bleeding edge’ can refer to technology that simply hasn’t been accepted by an industry, it can also mean technology that hasn’t been thoroughly tested or necessarily shown to be viable in the market. Be careful using this one because it might send the wrong message.
New Wave
New Wave (not to be confused with New Age) is more often applied to the arts than the sciences but can generally be taken to mean a new movement or trend in the culture. However, it is more commonly used to describe the diverse, progressive musical movement of the 70s and 80s. Famous examples of New Wave bands include Talking Heads, The Police, and Blondie, among dozens of others. My advice would be to only use this one in historical context.
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