The selections for Word of the Year varied, as usual, but most were influenced by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in 2023.
The outlier was the choice of Oxford Languages: “rizz.” This shortened form of “charisma” saw a “dramatic increase in usage in 2023 and refers to “someone’s ability to attract another person through style, charm, or attractiveness.” I had never heard the term until I began my research for this op-ed. I guess that means I lack “rizz.”
Merriam-Webster, meanwhile, selected “authentic,” another word whose usage encountered a “substantial increase in 2023, driven by stories and conversations about artificial intelligence, celebrity culture, identity, and social media.”
And then there’s “hallucinate” from Dictionary.com. Rather than the groovy, 1960s-style connotation, the word now refers to the “deviations from external facts or contextual logic” that AI models often generate erroneously. In short, “hallucination” is the “single word that best represents, at this moment, AI’s many profound ramifications for the future of language and life.”
I also found the sudden ubiquity of artificial intelligence impressive – and frightening – which caused me to choose not just one but two Words of the Year: “agency” and “prudence.”
“To exercise agency is to acquire significant control over your outcomes in life’s various arenas, including school, work, sports, physical health, and psychological well-being,” according to Psychology Today. The key is personal control.
Tech company Open AI got the artificial-intelligence ball rolling with its introduction of ChatGPT, the “large language model” that uses AI to “converse, generate readable text on demand and even produce novel images and video based on what they’ve learned from a vast database of digital books, online writings and other media.” Since its inception in late 2022, ChatGPT’s growth has been nothing short of phenomenal.
The tasks that chatbots can perform range from the mundane (schedule meetings, manage email, write memos) to the creative (compose computer code, generate artwork, craft story scripts). While AI is clearly capable of helping humans become more efficient, it has also begun replicating human ingenuity. That’s where “agency” comes in: Is artificial intelligence encroaching on individual control?
This question might seem like a fanciful science-fiction trope, but we should be circumspect with the widespread introduction of any new technology so that we remain in control and maintain agency. As 19th-century American author H.D. Thoreau lamented about the new technology of his time, “We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us.”
Exhibit A was the revelation last month that Sports Illustrated magazine had published AI-generated articles written by AI-generated authors. In other words, neither the articles nor their authors were directly connected to real human beings.
That leads to my second word of the year: “prudence.” Defined as “caution or circumspection as to danger or risk,” it is with prudence that we must approach artificial intelligence. Sadly, I’ve witnessed the exact opposite in my job as a high school English teacher.
“Here’s another great thing AI can do for you,” reads a typical message I receive almost daily in my school inbox, usually from a teaching source, not from a tech company selling its wares. The attitude towards artificial intelligence among educators, simply, has been sanguine (another word I considered for annual recognition), which concerns me since it comes from people who should know better.
Admittedly, AI is a time saver in its ability to manage paperwork, create quick quizzes, or check the authenticity of essays. (AI-generated plagiarism is another issue deserving of its own op-ed.) But at what point does artificial intelligence replace teacher creativity? I have always enjoyed planning lessons in which I incorporate innovative ideas, for example. But since AI can also create lesson plans, will new teachers use it as an essential time saver, never fully developing their own creative potential?
“Prudence,” therefore, is my other word of the year because the potential for AI-produced disaster is very real.
“A 2023 survey of AI experts found that 36 percent fear that AI development may result in a ‘nuclear-level catastrophe,’” reported Scientific American in May. “Almost 28,000 people have signed on to an open letter written by the Future of Life Institute, including Steve Wozniak, Elon Musk, the CEOs of several AI companies and many other prominent technologists, asking for a six-month pause or a moratorium on new advanced AI development.”
It’s in that cautionary spirit that I choose “agency” and “prudence” as 2023’s Words of the Year. If we don’t take them to heart, the 2024 Word of the Year might very well be “chaos” or “regret.”
