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(n.)
The paradoxical state where AI demonstrates competence at the hardest 90% of a task, yet incompetence at the seemingly trivial final 10%.
Legal AI drafted the merger agreement overnight, then its incompletence addressed the cover letter to the partner who retired last year.
Does it ring true?
From the future, or already here?
Incomplete + incompetence, pronounced in-KOM-plih-tens AI is just good enough to get the job done, but not thorough enough to complete it. That gap is not a matter of skill as much as the inability to anticipate or execute the “obvious” part of the job that was never written down.
Future Words: A Non-Obvious Glossary of Terms That Don’t Exist (But Soon Will) collects all 100, each with its example sentence and coinage notes, from the bestselling authors of The Future Normal. Hardcover, October 20, 2026.