UH Mānoa: ‘Analogue’ is Hawaiʻi’s 2025 Word of the Year

The English department at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa has selected “analogue” as its 2025 World of the Year for Hawaiʻi. Analogue refers to ways of thinking and creating that depend on human judgment, attention and physical engagement rather than automation. The department’s choice reflects the enduring value of human-centered thinking, creativity and interpretation in the era of artificial intelligence.

“Many of our students are contemplating careers in writing, teaching, the law and other fields involving communication, interpretation, critical thinking and creativity, and they have concerns about the impact of GenAI on their future prospects,” said John David Zuern, UH Mānoa Department of English chair and professor. “They have welcomed opportunities to engage in what might be called ‘analogue intelligence,’ reading printed texts and annotating them by hand, drafting essays on paper, hand-crafting their own books and taking part in oral presentations and performances in class.”

UH Mānoa Department of English faculty members, and students making up the English Majors Association leadership, came up with the word this year.

“Rather than a retreat into the past, we see this enthusiasm for the analogue as a ‘back to the future’ impulse, a commitment to the skills and values of a liberal education that will remain essential in a world transformed by AI technologies,” Zuern said.

Merriam-Webster announced its 2025 Word of the Year as “slop” on Dec. 14. Slop is defined by Merriam-Webster as “digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence,” and Zuern said the department sees “analogue” as a counterpoint to “slop.”

The 2025 Hawaiian Word of the Year selected by the UH Hilo Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani, College of Hawaiian Language, is “kāhuli”—to change, to alter, to overturn. In the Kumulipo, kāhuli describes the transformation that warmed the earth and unfolded the heavens, catalyzing the formation of the universe itself.