It seems like we’ve been talking about robots conquering the world for a really, really long time. But right now that actually seems to be happening. From education and art to business and healthcare, artificial intelligence (AI) has been making cities smarter and our lives much easier. Streaming, robot waiters and smart tech were once seen as futuristic, but now they’re part of our everyday lives.
We’ve come a long way since Spielberg’s 2001 sci-fi flick ‘A.I. Artificial Intelligence’, that’s for sure. And AI hype may just have reached a new peak, with the term having just been named Collins Dictionary’s Word of the Year.
Collins defines AI as the ‘modelling of human mental functions by computer programs’ and, tbh, naming it Word of the Year does seem appropriate. Ever since ChatGPT blew up in late 2022, AI has been on the tip of our tongues.
Alex Beecroft, managing director of Collins, said: ‘We know that AI has been a big focus this year in the way that it has developed and has quickly become as ubiquitous and embedded in our lives as email, streaming or any other once futuristic, now everyday technology.
’There was no question that this has also been the talking point of 2023.’
Collins’ lexicographers selected the abbreviated word after monitoring their 18-billion-word database and creating a list of notable words that reflect the current language trends. Other words on the shortlist included ‘nepo baby’, ‘deinfluencing’, ‘canon event’, ‘debanking’ and ‘Ulez’.
Find out more words that made the list on the Collins Dictionary website here.
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