Technology essays separate Band 6 from Band 7 by precision: the Band 6 essay says technology has many advantages; the Band 7 says algorithmic personalisation has redefined how consumers discover content. Here are 25 collocations to bridge that gap.
Group A — describing the change
- revolutionise the way [we / something] does X
- Streaming has revolutionised the way audiences consume music.
- transform [an industry] beyond recognition
- E-commerce has transformed retail beyond recognition in two decades.
- render [something] obsolete
- Smartphones have rendered standalone cameras and GPS units largely obsolete.
- blur the line between
- Remote work has blurred the line between professional and personal life.
- emerge as [the dominant X]
- Cloud computing has emerged as the dominant model for enterprise software.
Group B — benefits and capabilities
- streamline [a process]
- Automation has streamlined customer service for repetitive enquiries.
- boost productivity
- Collaboration tools have demonstrably boosted productivity in distributed teams.
- facilitate communication
- Video conferencing has facilitated communication across time zones in ways that were impossible a generation ago.
- democratise access to
- Online courses have democratised access to higher education.
- real-time data
- Real-time data on traffic conditions reroutes commuters around delays.
Group C — concerns and downsides
- raise privacy concerns
- Facial recognition in public spaces raises serious privacy concerns.
- be susceptible to / vulnerable to
- Critical infrastructure is increasingly vulnerable to cyberattack.
- spread misinformation / disinformation
- Social platforms have made it cheap and fast to spread misinformation at scale.
- the digital divide
- The pandemic exposed how starkly the digital divide affects educational outcomes.
- displace [a job / role]
- AI translation tools are gradually displacing entry-level translators.
- erode attention spans
- Short-form video appears to erode attention spans, particularly in adolescents.
Group D — qualifying and hedging
- a double-edged sword
- Social media is a double-edged sword: it connects people but also amplifies their differences.
- to varying degrees
- Every industry has been affected by automation, to varying degrees.
- in the foreseeable future
- Generative AI will reshape professional services in the foreseeable future.
- appears to / seems to
- AI summaries appear to reduce student engagement with original sources.
- the jury is still out on
- The jury is still out on whether remote work harms or helps long-term career progression.
Generative AI is a double-edged sword: in the foreseeable future it will streamline knowledge work to varying degrees, but it also appears to erode the basic research skills students used to build over years. The jury is still out on whether the productivity gains will outweigh that long-term cost.
Five technology collocations in two sentences — hedging quantifiers built in (‘to varying degrees’, ‘appears to’) so the register stays Band 7+.
Pick the technology-essay collocation
Critical infrastructure is increasingly _______ to cyberattack.
Pick one. You'll see why straight away.