The built-in artificial intelligence (AI) program on the word processing software advised me to replace the term, adversity, with risk. Risk, the AI app said, is a more familiar term than adversity.
I didn’t agree and I kept writing ‘adversity’ into my essay.
Risk is the likelihood an unfavourable event shall occur. Adversity is an unfavourable event or entity which represents a barrier, obstacle, or setback to any progress towards one’s goals.
In short, risk is not a synonym of adversity. They are not one and the same in meaning.
The AI program is right in that risk is used more widely than adversity, especially in the context of business and operations, which I do a lot of writing about.
But I write to share insights.
Organisations manage risks but they had not been very successful in anticipating adversities. Managers identify risks from what they know and assess. Adversities, however, stem from uncertainties, if not from the unknown.
People may not be as familiar with adversity than with risk, but it is the former which disrupts one’s operations.
One could calculate risks but not anticipate adversities.
Ellery's Essays 