The Collins Dictionary, one of the world’s foremost publishers of English-language dictionaries, named artificial intelligence, specifically its abbreviation “AI,” the word of the year for 2023.
The Collins dictionary defines AI as “the modeling of human mental functions by computer programs.” The publisher of dictionaries predicted that AI-powered language models would “explode into the public consciousness” by the end of 2022.
In 2023, AI was not only rapidly developing but also “much discussed,” according to the report. According to Collins, artificial intelligence is the “next great technological revolution.”
Collins has also taken a keen interest in “digital culture” this year, shortlisting the term “de-influencing,” which it defines as an influencer using their online presence “to warn followers to avoid certain commercial products, lifestyle choices, etc.”
Among its other shortlisted terms for the word of the year, Collins also had two finance-related words. Officials define “Debanking” as “depriving a person of banking facilities.”
Nigel Farage, a populist politician in the United Kingdom, claimed the Coutts bank attempted to close his account due to his political beliefs, according to Collins. The text stated:
“The issue was thrust into the spotlight and many others subsequently came forward to complain of having been debanked without explanation.”
Debanking has long been a concern in the cryptocurrency space. In April, Republicans on the House Financial Committee of the United States claimed there is evidence of a “coordinated strategy” to deny digital asset industry participants access to banking facilities.
Recently, the prominent cryptocurrency exchange Binance has been up against European debanking woes. The exchange announced on September 28 that users with its local banking partner, Paysafe, will no longer be able to trade euro spot trading pairs.
Collins also included the compound term “greedflation” in its list of suggested words. “greedflation” combines the words “greed” and “inflation.” This was defined as using inflation as a pretext to inflate prices to increase corporate profits artificially.
According to the United Kingdom-based dictionary, the U.K.’s current living crisis has been caused by inflation, and many are persuaded that “businesses are making excessive price increases to increase their profits, a phenomenon known as greedflation.”
According to the U.S. inflation calculator, the country is presently experiencing an inflation rate of 3.7%, higher than the predicted rate of 3.6% but significantly lower than the projected rates of 6.7% and 7% for 2022 and 2021, respectively.