Why and how Collins Dictionary chose 'AI' as the word of the year for 2023

AI was chosen from a list of new terms that the publisher said reflect 'our ever-evolving language and the concerns of those who use it'

The technology that is set to dominate the future – for better or worse – is now the word of the year. “AI” has been named the most notable word of 2023 by the dictionary publisher Collins.

Defined as “the modelling of human mental functions by computer programs'', AI was chosen because it “has accelerated at such a fast pace and become the dominant conversation of 2023”, the publisher said. The use of the word (strictly an initialism) has quadrupled over the past year.

It was chosen from a list of new terms that the publisher said reflect “our ever-evolving language and the concerns of those who use it”. They include “greedflation”, defined as “the use of inflation as an excuse to raise prices to artificially high levels in order to increase corporate profits”, and “debanking”, “the act of depriving a person of banking facilities”.

“Nepo baby”, the term used to describe the sons and daughters of celebrities whose careers are assumed to have taken off, thanks to their famous parent, and “deinfluencing” made the list. “Deinfluencing” is defined by Collins lexicographers as “the use of social media to warn followers to avoid certain commercial products, lifestyle choices, etc”.
 

Let's take a look at how these words were picked and what other terms made the cut:

Why did the Collins Dictionary pick ‘AI’ as the word of the year?
 

Alex Beecroft, managing director of Collins, said AI was picked because it has become a big part of our lives. It's as common as email and streaming services. People use AI in multiple ways now, and it’s everywhere.
 

How is the word of the year chosen?
 

The decision to pick "AI" as the word of the year was not a random one. The experts at Collins Dictionary studied what’s known as the Collins Corpus. This is like a giant library of words. It contains more than 20 billion words from websites, newspapers, magazines, books and more from across the world. It also includes words people say on the radio, TV and in everyday conversations.

Every month, new words are added to this library to keep it updated. This library helps the dictionary editors at Collins in finding new words and meanings as soon as people start using them.
 

"We always find the use of words in the Collins Corpus interesting. There was no doubt that 'AI' was the word everyone was talking about in 2023," Beecroft said.
 

The other word-of-the-year contenders
 

1. Bazball: An aggressive style of cricket, named after England head coach Brendon McCullum, known as Baz.

2. Canon event: An event essential to the formation of an individual's character or identity.

3. Debanking: The act of depriving a person of banking facilities.

4. Deinfluencing: Warning social media followers to avoid certain products or lifestyle choices.

5. Greedflation: Using high inflation as an excuse to artificially raise prices in order to increase corporate profits.

6. Nepo baby: A person perceived as benefitting from nepotism by having famous parents.

7. Semaglutide: A medication used to suppress the appetite and control high blood sugar.

8. Ultraprocessed: Food prepared using complex industrial methods from multiple ingredients, often including ingredients with little or no nutritional value.

9. Ulez: Acronym for ultra-low emission zone, an urban area into which only low-polluting vehicles can enter without paying a charge.

Last year, the dictionary named “permacrisis” — “an extended period of instability and insecurity” — as its word of the year, following on from “NFT,” the abbreviation of “non-fungible token,” or “a unique digital certificate, registered in a blockchain that is used to record ownership of an asset such as an artwork or a collectible” in 2021.