‘AI’ takes Collins dictionary word of the year, ‘debanking’ makes shortlist

cointelegraph.com:

Artificial intelligence, more specifically its abbreviation “AI,” was crowned word of the year for 2023 in the Collins dictionary, one of the world’s earliest English-language dictionary publishers.

The Collins dictionary defines AI as “the modeling of human mental functions by computer programs.” The dictionary publisher described AI-powered language models as “bursting into the public consciousness” at the end of 2022.

It said AI has not only seen rapid development in 2023 but has also been “much talked about.” Collins wrote that AI is considered to be the “next great technological revolution.”

In addition to AI, Collins has had a particular interest in “digital culture” this year, shortlisting the word “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 words for the word of the year, Collins also had two finance-related words. “Debanking” made the list, which its officials define as “the act of depriving a person of banking facilities.”

Collins claimed this word made the list after a populist politician in the United Kingdom, Nigel Farage, claimed the Coutts bank tried to close his account due to his political affiliation. It wrote that:

Debanking has long been an issue tied to the crypto space. In April, United States Republicans in the House Financial Committee argued there is a record of a “coordinated strategy” of denying players in the digital asset industry access to banking facilities.

Related: Siemens and Microsoft partner to push AI adoption in industrial sectors

Recently, the popular cryptocurrency exchange Binance has been up against debanking woes in Europe. The exchange