ChatGPT might be getting an inferiority complex after Collins Dictionary called the abbreviation the “word” of the year. Though conversations around AI picked up steam because of ChatGPT but that’s no longer the case.

Collins managing director Alex Beecroft 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.”

AI is in a weird place at the moment. Some companies are seeking its help to making coding quicker and helping drug companies find new antibiotics but then there are banks that are asking consumers to be cautious and tech companies like Apple and Samsung that are asking employees to be careful as to the information that’s fed into chatbots. The fears of data being misused by chatbots is high. Text generator ChatGPT was launched in November 2022 and ever since, there has been debate about the use of the technology.

The lexicographers at Collins Dictionary monitor the 20-billion-word Collins Corpus which touches upon a range of media sources, like social media, to create the annual list of new and notable words. “Use of the word as monitored through our Collins Corpus is always interesting and there was no question that this has also been the talking point of 2023,” Beecroft has said.

The abbreviation ‘AI’ was chosen from a pool of other words, which includes “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”.

Also in the pool of words is “nepo baby” or the sons and daughters of celebrities whose careers are assumed to have grown thanks to their famous parent. Oscar-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis, the daughter of Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, and singer Noel Gallagher, the father of model Anais Gallagher, have thrown themselves into the “nepo baby” debate. Gallagher told Radio X it is “human to help your children”, while Curtis said, after receiving a Screen Actors Guild award, that people may “think, well, nepo baby”, but this is “amazing” personally.

Another word on the list is ‘bazball’. This year’s Ashes series between England and Australia had many people talking about a style of cricket dubbed ‘bazball’, according to Collins. It refers to New Zealand cricketer and coach Brendon McCullum, known as Baz, who believes in aggressive tactics in a Test match.

Beecroft said there was “no question” that AI had been “the talking point of 2023”. What most people forget to mention is that AI is being implemented by tech companies for years without calling it “artificial intelligence”.

But what is it about AI or “artificial insemination”? Cliff Richard was recently requested to sing during a BBC interview and once he was done, he said he had not used “artificial insemination”. The legendary singer earlier said that while he had thought about “slowing down”, he doesn’t want to incorporate AI into his work.

Do you know these words?

Canon event: An event that is essential to the formation of an individual’s character or identity.

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

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

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

Nepo baby: A person who has been perceived as benefitting from nepotism by having famous parents.

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

Ulez: Acronym for ultra-low emission zone.