While some AI tools, like ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Mode and Google's NotebookLM, were delightful to interact with, the prevailing narrative remained on the technology's inherent flaws, with rampant hallucinations and continued questions about proper data training. I mean, who could forget about Shrimp Jesus and other surreal, AI-generated images spreading across Facebook? Or when AI Overviews told Google users it was OK to eat rocks in moderation as well as put glue on pizza? It was a year where bizarre AI-generated content felt everywhere. Here at WIRED, 2024 was full of juicy investigations, deep conversations, and thorough gadget reviews.

An AI apocalypse didn't collapse society into chaos, but everyone in Silicon Valley did try to add some sort of AI tool into their software, and it sure felt pretty chaotic. Researchers considered new plans for preserving our microbial diversity. Pollution and climate change continued to ransack the Earth's environment. Billionaires grew more obsessed with social media and copying each other's platforms. This 12-question quiz isn't all-inclusive, but it does highlight some of the most read articles on WIRED's website in 2023.