Big Brother (sorry, Big Person) is correcting you on Google

Predictive text is known for saving writers from embarrassing grammatical mistakes or spelling bloopers, but Google is now telling users not to use particular words - because they are not inclusive enough.

The online giant is rolling out an ‘inclusive language’ function that prompts authors to avoid using certain words and suggests more acceptable replacements.

Among the words it objects to are "landlord" - which Google says “may not be inclusive to all readers” and should be changed to “property owner” or “proprietor” - and "mankind", which it wants changed to “humankind”.

The tool suggests more gender-inclusive phrasing, such as changing “policemen” to “police officers”, and replacing “housewife” with “stay-at-home-spouse”.