AI and hallucinations were chosen as Words of the Year by Cambridge Dictionary
Cambridge Dictionaries named 'Hallucination' the Term of the Year
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the word of the year is “hallucination.” Interestingly, it earned this distinction not due to its conventional meaning but because of concerns related to artificial intelligence (AI).
The Cambridge Dictionary defines the verb of the year as when an AI, a computer system resembling a human brain in certain aspects, produces false information, leading to what they term as AI hallucinations.
The issue of AI hallucinations has been a longstanding concern in the IT community. Instances like Google’s Bard chatbot attributing a false discovery to the James Webb Telescope and Meta Corporation’s Galactica AI suggesting an article on the benefits of eating crushed glass have raised alarms, causing financial repercussions for the involved companies.
The compilers of the Cambridge Dictionary emphasised the need for critical thinking when utilising AI tools, as the ability of AI to generate glitches underscores the importance of human judgement.
