The artificial intelligence hype train has reached another milestone.
In an eagerly-anticipated announcement, Collins Dictionary today named AI as its word of the year.
Additionally, the dictionary offered an explanation for the award.
According to the books British publisher, usage of AI has quadrupled over the previous 12 months.
That shouldnt come as a big surprise.AIhas become a common topic everywhere from pitch decks to pubs.
But that doesnt mean the field is guaranteed to enjoy a good life.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
Tech terms that previously won or were shortlisted for the Collins word of the year have experienced mixed fortunes.
Heres how they fared.
Phablet(Shortlisted, 2013)
Our first entry is truly hideous.
A portmanteau of phone and tablet, phablet refers to mobile devices that are caught between sizes.
Mercifully, the word is now only found in the most shameful of lexicons.
Bitcoin(Shortlisted, 2013)
Bitcoin has taken investors on rollercoasters since being nominated by Collins.
A significant loss, indeed.
Amid growing calls for a second referendum, the word is regaining momentum.
Tinder(Shortlisted, 2014)
Tinder remains the undisputed leader in the online dating field.
In July, the app had over6 millionmonthly downloads.
Compared to 2013, however, Tinder now has numerous rivals for lonely hearts and horny loins.
Swipe(Shortlisted, 2015)
Tinders key feature has also made a shortlist.
With the gesture still ubiquitous on mobile devices, the swipe isnt going anywhere soon.
Contactless(Shortlisted, 2015)
Its hard for us to imagine a world before contactless payments.
A recent European road trip, however, showed that the tech still has plenty of growth potential.
Uberization(Shortlisted, 2016)
Uberization has become omnipresent since 2016.
But a bigger concern for the app is the inexorable rise of TikTok.
Such businesses reached a peak in 2021, when the number of new unicorns spiked to787.
In 2022, however, there was a 90% drop in fresh members of the flock.
Their prominence persists, butrecent researchsuggests theyre not as polarising as previously feared.
In 2013,researchers found that98%of all deepfake videos online are pornography.
Influencer(Shortlisted, 2019)
Instagrams defining legacy is the infuriating job title of Influencer.
As the infernal role lives on attention, well give it as little as possible.
To the horror ofboomersin the West, the app has rapidly grown in popularity since then.
TikTok reached 1.5 billion users in 2023 a16%increase on the previous year.
Metaverse(Shortlisted, 2021)
Themetaverseboom began with Facebooksbig rebrand, but then quickly faded.
A combination ofjaw-dropping financiallosses,risibletechnologies,and the generative AI explosion has brought the concept back to Earth.
There aresigns, however, that the bear market could be approaching a close.
Thankfully, the pandemic eventually subsided, rendering the word a mere memory for now.
NFT(Winner, 2021)
Congratulations,NFT!
Youre the only other tech term that Collins has named word of the year.
At TNW, we initiallymockednon-fungible tokens as a money-grabbing scam.
But whos laughing now?
We are, actually trading of NFTsplummetedby 81% between January 2022 and July 2023.
AI looks unlikely to suffer a serious fate.
The tech is developing rapidly and entering a growing range of applications.
We expect the progress to continue although the hype may soon give way to more realistic expectations.
Well revisit the term when Collins returns with the next word of the year.
Do you predict another entry from the world of tech?
Let us know via the usual channels.
Story byThomas Macaulay
Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he e(show all)Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse).
