Tech trends continue to emerge and shift at a rapid pace. The conversation in 2023 has so far been dominated by the proliferation of generative artificial intelligence to the public, and its ongoing development.

The speed at which these new ideas are introduced and adopted can be difficult to keep track of – particularly where abbreviations are concerned.

To gauge how much the use of acronyms and abbreviations in tech lends itself to confusion or misunderstanding, Mason Frank International, a Tenth Revolution Group company, has conducted new research into Google search volume data and collated the top five most most misunderstood tech terms, as well as their trend patterns over the last 12 months.

The 5 Most Misunderstood Tech Terms

1 – What is API?

An API is an application programming interface. In the simplest terms, an API lets one product or service communicate with another product or service.

For example, the weather app on your phone retrieves the latest forecast from whatever local organisation handles such meteorological concerns’ database via an API.

Average Global Monthly Search Volume: 14,800
Trend (Last 12 Months): +22%

2 – What is AI?

AI is an acronym for artificial intelligence.

The term was originally defined as “the science and engineering of making intelligent machines” by Emeritus Stanford Professor John McCarthy in 1955.

As language and technology have shifted though, the term has come to refer to machines and systems that can demonstrate certain traits of human intelligence including learning, problem-solving, and perception.

The current conversation is focused primarily on generative AI which is a technology that produces content as informed by its access to existing banks of digitised knowledge.

Average Global Monthly Search Volume: 12,100
Trend (Last 12 Months): +1,025%

3 – What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud Computing is the delivery of different computer services through the Internet. These often include data storage, servers, databases, networking and software.

Rather than keeping them on-prem, they are stored online so any potential user needs just an internet connection to access them.

Average Global Monthly Search Volume: 5,400
Trend (Last 12 Months): +23%

4 – What is CSS?

CSS corresponds to Cascading Style Sheets and is a language used to describe the presentation of a web document written in a markup language, such as HTML.

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By separating content and presentation, CSS enables greater flexibility and by extension, accessibility. CSS makes it possible to present the same document in different styles for different rendering methods, including on-screen, in print, via text-to-speech, and on Braille readers.

Average Global Monthly Search Volume: 1,900
Trend (Last 12 Months): 0%

5 – What is IoT?

IoT stands for Internet of Things. IoT describes the network of physical objects, “Things” that are embedded with sensors, software and other technologies for the purpose of connecting and exchanging information over the internet.

IoT devices can range from Smart Kitchen Appliances to more sophisticated industry tools.

Average Global Monthly Search Volume: 1,900
Trend (Last 12 Months): +19%