Word
cybernetics
Phoneticscy·ber·net·ics
UK/sˌaɪbənˈɛtɪks/
Definition
n. the study of how humans, animals, and machines control themselves and communicate information. It looks at how systems use feedback to stay balanced or reach a goal.
n. the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems, focusing on the flow of information and feedback loops in both biological and mechanical contexts.
Examples
“Cybernetics helps us understand how robots can mimic human movement.”
“Early research in cybernetics paved the way for modern artificial intelligence by studying how machines could learn from their own mistakes.”
“The principles of cybernetics are applied across diverse fields, from engineering and biology to sociology, to model how complex systems maintain stability through self-regulation.”
Examples
simple
“Cybernetics helps us understand how robots can mimic human movement.”
contextual
“Early research in cybernetics paved the way for modern artificial intelligence by studying how machines could learn from their own mistakes.”
complex
“The principles of cybernetics are applied across diverse fields, from engineering and biology to sociology, to model how complex systems maintain stability through self-regulation.”
Usage
Takes a singular verb despite the 's' ending, similar to 'physics' or 'mathematics'.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek κυβερνήτης (kubernḗtēs, “steersman”), from κυβερνάω (kubernáō, “I steer, drive, guide, act as a pilot”) (whence English govern). The term is attested since at least 1948 in the book Cybernetics by Norbert Wiener, influenced by the cognate term and doublet governor, the name of an early control device proposed by James Clerk Maxwell in 1868. Note also the 1830s French cybernétique (“the art of governing”). Also doublet of Kubernetes.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/cybernetics