I am trying to implement a search function that will use ajax to query the database when a user types a character into the search box This will bring up any data within the database that begins with the character typed by the user.
I think this line, is your problem;
$this->load->view(array('words' => $wordlist));
You are trying to load an array of views.
The first parameter within the view function, is the name of the file you're trying to load. Like this;
$this->load->view('file_name', $data, true/false)
https://ellislab.com/codeigniter/user-guide/libraries/loader.html
If you want a specific type of data and simple out, you must use header response without $this->load->view just like this:
header('Content-type: application/json');
echo json_encode(array('words' => $wordlist));
Use that, you can easily get data with ajax