On November 18, Merriam-Webster will release the 12th edition of its iconic Collegiate Dictionary, the first new release in more than 20 years.
In its announcement on social media, the reference company took a shot at its biggest competitor: artificial intelligence.
“Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal spoke with Merriam-Webster President Greg Barlow about how the company has stayed relevant in the digital age, and why he’s not too concerned about artificial intelligence. Below is an edited transcript of their conversation.
Kai Ryssdal: Would you do me a favor and tell me what your company does?
Greg Barlow: Certainly. Merriam Webster creates definitions.
Ryssdal: That’s a lot less than five words, which is my favorite thing for CEOs to say when I ask them what they do. Here’s the follow-up question. We have been working on the Internet and online life for twenty years, and no one has a dictionary on their desk anymore. How will you run your business here in 2025?
Barlow: It’s actually a bit of a misconception. We sold approximately 1.5 million dictionaries last year. And the year before that we sold about 1.5 million dictionaries. But your point is well taken, of course the printed dictionary is a fairly small part of our business. It’s very important to us, but by far the business is online. In the last twelve months alone, we had approximately 1.2 billion visits to Merriam-Webster.com, and that’s really what our business was built on.
Ryssdal: Let me go back to the beginning and ask you about your business and definitions. I’m not telling you what your job is, but your job is basically language, right?
Barlow: Absolutely, definitions, synonyms, but also language as an industry. We have millions and millions, hundreds of millions of sessions on our website every year for people who play language games, word games or people who read our language-based newsletters, and basically people who learn language through articles. We publish things like: ‘Why whatever is actually a word.’
Ryssdal: Wait, no, is it real?
Barlow: Yes, “regardless” has been a word for decades, and it’s actually a word for the same reason that every word is a word, which is that people use it. People think Merriam-Webster dictates definitions to people, but that’s not what we do. We are a descriptive organization. We capture the language of how it’s used, and if people use it anyway, millions and millions, if not hundreds of millions of times over decades and decades, then it’s our job to make sure it’s captured in the book so that everyone knows what everyone needs.
Ryssdal: Are you a word and language man from way back? Is this the dream job for you?
Barlow: The answer is yes and no. It’s definitely a dream job of mine, but no, I didn’t have a language background. I ended up through the business world. I worked on the business side at The Wall Street Journal for years and then in private equity for a few years. And about 15 years ago, 2009, I joined Merriam-Webster and Britannica as our Chief Marketing Officer. (I then) left the company. And about four years ago I got back in touch with the management team and the owners, and I came back.
Ryssdal: I do have to ask you about the current craze in language, which is of course large language models and artificial intelligence. Where is that on the scale of the monsters under your bed, in terms of a threat to your business?
Barlow: It’s something we think about. Absolutely, AI can offer a lot to many different companies. And it can also offer us a lot. There is also a threat to many companies. That is, ‘can AI replace my business?’ According to the dictionary, it’s not really a threat. And the reason is that AI is great in all kinds of ways, but we know it can’t always be trusted, and Merriam-Webster can. And when it comes to words and what they mean and how they are understood, of course the definition must be perfect. And remember: AI is trying to figure out what the definition is. Well, at Merriam-Webster we actually write the definition. We create it, invent it, so it can’t be wrong. Like you, like everyone else, we all have the fear of writing a text in which the word may be wrong, maybe misspelled or am I using this word correctly. You really don’t want to screw something up, especially if the answer is on Merriam-Webster.com. So it’s not really a threat to us, especially given all our other business activities.
Ryssdal: So the last thing, and then I’ll let you go. Do you think that in, say, ten years’ time you will still be selling 1.5 million dictionaries per year?
Barlow: I hope so. Again, I hope so. And that comes from, and I mean this, it comes from my heart. It’s definitely an insignificant portion of our revenue, but people love the book. They like to feel it; they love browsing. They love the thumb notches and they love seeing it on their bookshelf. If you asked me ten years ago, would I hope we were still printing and selling 1.5 million dictionaries? Ten years later I would have said “Absolutely,” and I stand by that story.
Ryssdal: Now somewhere in my house I have the dictionary my parents gave me when I graduated from high school. So I hear you.
Barlow: I think it’s time to buy a new one. The new edition is coming out. The first new edition in almost 20 years, and it’s great.
Ryssdal: I’ll go look.
