Review of 2023 (article)

A sensational year - 25th December 2023

This year has dazzled readers with tech and health innovations, pop culture gossip and environmental destruction and progress.

The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) led to an arms race with worrying consequences. During the past 12 months, Microsoft and Google have both launched AI chatbots that made factual errors and in one case compared a journalist to Hitler. By October, actor Tom Hanks was one of many actors and celebrities questioning AI’s place in society after he found an unsanctioned AI-generated version of himself advertising a dental plan.

Beyond Hollywood, pop stars made numerous headlines, with Beyoncé becoming the biggest Grammy winner in history. Justin Bieber sold his back catalogue for $200 million, and Katy Perry lost a lawsuit to Australian designer, Katie Perry, who’d trademarked her own name. Finally, Shakira avoided jail time in a last-minute plea deal with the Spanish government.

Health professionals heralded significant achievements and discoveries in medicine. UK researchers began using motion capture suits, commonly used in Hollywood movies like Avatar, to diagnose diseases which affect body movement. Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation celebrated a victory over malaria in sub-Saharan African countries thanks to a robust vaccine program.

In August, German scientists employed transparent mice to create 3D maps of how cancer cells grow. Later in the year, a surgeon had the shock of a lifetime, discovering a live worm in an Australian woman’s brain. Across the world in Qatar, two students clinched an innovation first prize for crafting vegetable cells into carrots using a 3D printer and UV light.

Back in January, Croatia became the latest country to adopt the euro as its currency. Money news also featured a couple in Spain who were sentenced for stealing over 1.6 million euros of wine. In August, a group of cleaners in India shared a million-dollar jackpot through a single lucky ticket. It was revealed that the British Museum had suffered the largest museum theft in modern times, losing over 2,000 items from its collection. Finally, investigative journalists uncovered financial and political criminals exploiting Dominica’s citizenship-by-investment scheme to obtain visa-free travel to over 100 countries.

Animals made headlines throughout the year with Bobi, a 33 year old pooch in Portugal, being crowned the world’s oldest dog, although this claim’s now being contested. Cameroonian wildlife rangers have been battling to protect the world’s biggest frog from extinction, and activists in Italy protested to save JJ4. Authorities claimed the mother bear had killed a jogger in the mountains. Meanwhile, explorers in Scotland undertook the largest hunt of the Loch Ness monster for over 50 years.

In politics, New Zealand led the way to a smoke-free future with legislation banning all future tobacco purchases for those born after January 2009. Elsewhere, women in the Philippines were fighting for their right to divorce, and Australia voted ‘No’ in a constitutional referendum for a group to represent indigenous peoples in government.

Despite suffering record-breaking heatwaves and natural disasters, 2023 saw positive environmental developments. The UN successfully brokered an ambitious deal to protect one-third of the ocean from human exploitation, and a group of young US activists sued Montana’s state government in August for its pro fossil fuel policies.

After being criticised for its leadership’s involvement in the oil industry, COP28 launched its historic loss and damage fund for developing nations suffering from climate change disasters, such as floods, and mass migration due to sea level rise.