Review of 2023 (article)

2023: Surprises and achievements - 25th December 2023

Medical discoveries, technological advancements, celebrity scandals and ecological devastation have made 2023 a year to remember.

With the launch of ChatGPT 4 in March, the AI (artificial intelligence) arms race unofficially commenced. Microsoft and Google inaugurated their own AI chatbots, facing a sea of criticism for their factual blunders and abuse of journalists, with one even comparing a reporter to Hitler. Hollywood spoke out against AI’s misuse, especially in unsanctioned content generated using stars’ images. Renowned Forrest Gump actor Tom Hanks denounced an advert selling dental insurance on Instagram for appropriating his face and voice through AI.

International pop sensation Beyoncé became the artist with the most Grammys in history, while Justin Bieber relinquished the rights to his back catalogue for a cool $200 million. In the Australian courts, Firework singer Katy Perry suffered a loss to fashion designer Katie Perry for trademark infringement. And hours before Colombian superstar Shakira’s trial for tax evasion, a plea deal was struck in which she agreed to pay millions of euros in exchange for a suspended prison sentence.

The healthcare sector lauded the World Health Organisation for the success of its malaria vaccination programs throughout rural Ghana, Malawi and Kenya, which saw cases of the disease plummet. UK medical experts deployed motion capture suits, used previously in Hollywood films such as Avatar, to assist in diagnosing patients with movement disorders, while German researchers engineered transparent mice to advance the fight against cancer. In October, the medical world was astounded when a live wriggling worm was discovered in an Australian woman’s brain. Then, a month later, a pair of Qatari students triumphed in a business hackathon by inventing a process for creating carrots using vegetable cells, UV light and a 3D printer.

In January, Croatia became the latest country to adopt the euro as its official currency, while a crime couple were put on trial in Spain for the theft of over 1.6 million euros in bottles of wine. A group of sanitation workers in Kerala, India, hit the jackpot, sharing over a million dollars in lottery winnings. Whereas the British Museum announced the loss of over 2,000 items after a staff member committed the greatest theft of artefacts in modern times. As the end of 2023 approached, investigative journalists exposed how international criminals were exploiting Dominica’s citizenship-by-investment scheme to travel freely across the globe.

A 32 year old pooch from Portugal named Bobi was hailed as the world’s oldest dog by Guinness World Records, although further corroboration of the claim is now being sought. Wildlife rangers in Cameroon instigated a raft of measures to protect the world’s largest frog from extinction, whilst action by Italian animal rights activists saved the life of JJ4, a mother bear accused of killing a jogger. In August, Scotland saw the largest crowd in half a century gather in search of the fabled Loch Ness monster.

Headlines from Oceania and Southeast Asia included New Zealand’s smoking ban for future generations, women in the Philippines fighting for their right to divorce, and Australia’s contentious constitutional referendum for indigenous representation in parliament.

Besides the record-breaking heatwaves and hurricanes, 2023 had its share of uplifting environmental stories, as the UN successfully brokered the ambitious High Seas Treaty, safeguarding over a third of the world’s oceans from deepsea mining and overfishing. Youth activists from Montana, USA also celebrated victory, triumphing in a lawsuit against their state government for its support of the fossil fuel industry. This was to the detriment of the environment and against the state’s constitution.

Back at COP28, whose executives had been lambasted for their ties to the oil industry, the congress initiated its historic loss and damage fund. It’s aimed at supporting developing nations suffering from climate disasters which they did not create, such as cyclones and mass migrations due to sea level rise.