2023: The Year of AI
About the series
Artificial intelligence used to be the stuff of science fiction, with mega-mind robots always teetering between saving and destroying humanity. In truth, AI had been with humans for years, in their cars and on their smartphones, shaping what they saw and heard and did. Then ChatGPT arrived at the end of 2022 and made AI a reality for millions of Americans who found themselves talking, cracking jokes, taunting, griping and otherwise conversing with something that seemed almost human.
Suddenly AI was having its moment. The company behind ChatGPT went through soap opera-style growing pains, the stock market added billions of dollars of worth to AI companies, and government rushed to grapple with the legal and moral questions.
It all combined to make 2023 the Year of AI, with hope, hype and hysteria over what artificial intelligence will deliver in the coming years. The Washington Times, in a four-day series, takes a look at where we’ve been and where we’re going, looking at the promise and the perils and separating the realistic and the ridiculous.
- Part One: Hype and hazards: Artificial intelligence is suddenly very real
- Part Two: The rise of smart machines: Tech startup turned AI into a business boom in 2023
- Part Three: AI starts a music-making revolution and plenty of noise about ethics and royalties
- Part Four: AI saves far more lives than it takes — for now
Recent Stories
Hype and hazards: Artificial intelligence is suddenly very real
AI has been with us for years, quietly controlling what we see on social media, protecting our credit cards from fraud and helping avoid collisions on the road. But 2023 was transformative, with the public showing an insatiable appetite for anything with the AI label.
The rise of smart machines: Tech startup turned AI into a business boom in 2023
Artificial intelligence tools exploded in 2023 and put Big Tech on its heels. One AI maker rocketed into the business stratosphere with $1 trillion in market capitalization.
AI starts a music-making revolution and plenty of noise about ethics and royalties
Artificial intelligence has seismic implications for music-making and record labels, posing existential questions about the meaning of creativity and whether machines are enhancing human inspiration or replacing it.
Adoption of AI tech a matter of life and death; scenarios show gravity of maintaining human control
AI is already saving countless lives in doctors' offices and on the highway, tipping the balance sheet clearly to the plus side despite fears of dystopian movie-style runaway AI.
Law enforcement increasingly enlists artificial intelligence to fight crime
It's not yet to the point of science fiction's "Minority Report," where police can arrest someone for "precrime" before they ever commit the act, but police across the country are turning to artificial intelligence to do their jobs.
Science can't keep up with pop culture when it comes to artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence entered pop culture long before its development. Books, old-time radio shows, television and particularly movies explored the concept decades before ChatGPT gave the world its first personal look at AI for everyday public use.
Ex-Google engineer fired over claiming AI is sentient is now warning of doomsday scenarios
The software engineer fired by Google after alleging its artificial intelligence project might be alive has a new primary concern: AI may start a war and could be used for assassinations.
AI pets nip at the human-animal bond
The AI industry hopes robots will unseat the dog someday as man's best friend, but Fido is safe -- for now.
