Artificial intelligence and climate change were 2023's twin challenges

WHEN New Scientist editors sat down to discuss the biggest story of 2023, one topic shot straight to the top of the list. It can't have escaped anyone's notice that artificial intelligence rocketed to prominence this year, with OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, becoming a household name. Hundreds of millions of people are now using large language models on a regular basis, in a rapid roll-out of technology that is essentially unprecedented.