Year-round
AI Revolution Accelerates
GPT-4 launched. Google released Bard. Microsoft integrated AI into everything. Hollywood writers and actors struck over AI. The technology moved faster than anyone could regulate.
🇺🇸United States · 20s
The AI Year
AI takes over, Taylor Swift's Eras Tour conquers, and the world watches Gaza.
What happened
5 milestones of 2023
Oct 7
Hamas Attack and Gaza War
Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages. Israel's military response devastated Gaza, killing tens of thousands of Palestinians. College campuses erupted in protest. America was divided.
war
May-Nov
Hollywood Strikes
Writers (WGA) and actors (SAG-AFTRA) went on strike simultaneously for the first time since 1960. They fought for better pay, residuals, and protection from AI replacing them.
Mar-Aug
Trump Indicted Four Times
Donald Trump was indicted in four separate criminal cases — a first for any former president. Charges ranged from hush money to trying to overturn the 2020 election. He remained the GOP frontrunner.
Aug 8
Maui Wildfire
Wildfires destroyed the historic town of Lahaina on Maui, killing 101 people. It was the deadliest US wildfire in over a century. The town's banyan tree survived.
natural disaster
What was playing
70% local · 30% international
What was in cinemas
Barbie
Greta Gerwig — Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. $1.4 billion. 'Barbenheimer' was the event of the summer.
Oppenheimer
Christopher Nolan — Cillian Murphy as the father of the atomic bomb. Won Best Picture. 'I am become death.'
Killers of the Flower Moon
Martin Scorsese — DiCaprio and De Niro. The Osage murders. Scorsese confronted America's original sin.
Past Lives
Celine Song — Two childhood friends reconnect decades later. Quiet, devastating, perfect.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Joaquim Dos Santos et al. — Even more ambitious animation. Miles Morales against every Spider-Person. A cliffhanger.
What was on TV
Succession Finale
2018-2023 — The Roy family saga ended. 'I am the eldest boy.' The last great prestige drama.
The Last of Us
2023-present — HBO's video game adaptation set the standard. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. Episode 3.
Beef
2023 — Road rage spirals into obsession. Steven Yeun and Ali Wong. Netflix's best drama.
The Bear
2022-present — Season 2. The Christmas episode. Jeremy Allen White made chef culture appointment TV.
Lessons in Chemistry
2023 — Brie Larson as a 1960s chemist. Apple TV+ period drama about a woman ahead of her time.
How much things cost
Currency: USD
Gallon of milk$4.17
Gallon of gas$3.52
New house (median)$412,000
New car (average)$45,000
Loaf of bread$2.08
Movie ticket$10.78
Inflation: 3.4%
Inflation was cooling but prices stayed high. Mortgage rates hit 8%. The housing market froze. Despite everything, unemployment stayed low.
Then vs. Now
Inflation-adjusted values
Gallon of milkBLS
2023 (USD)
$4.17
→
Today's value ($)
--
Gallon of gasEIA
2023 (USD)
$3.52
→
Today's value ($)
--
New house (median)Census Bureau
2023 (USD)
$412,000
→
Today's value ($)
--
New car (average)BLS
2023 (USD)
$45,000
→
Today's value ($)
--
Loaf of breadBLS
2023 (USD)
$2.08
→
Today's value ($)
--
Movie ticketNATO
2023 (USD)
$10.78
→
Today's value ($)
--
Technology
GPT-4 and AI chatbots
AI could pass the bar exam, write code, and create images. Every company added 'AI' to their pitch deck.
Threads launches
Meta launched a Twitter/X competitor. 100 million signups in 5 days. Then silence.
Apple Vision Pro announced
Apple's $3,500 spatial computing headset. The future of computing — or an expensive curiosity.
Twitter becomes X
Musk rebranded Twitter as X. The blue bird died. Users scattered to Threads, Bluesky, and Mastodon.
Submarine implosion (Titan)
The Titan submersible imploded visiting the Titanic wreck. Five died. The world watched for days.
Pop Culture
Fashion
Quiet luxury dominatesMob wife aestheticOversized blazers
Slang
Rizz— Charisma, ability to attract (Oxford Word of the Year)
Delulu— Delusional (used positively)
Slay— To do something excellently (continued)
Behavior
- Barbenheimer made going to the movies an event again
- Taylor Swift's Eras Tour became the highest-grossing tour ever ($1B+)
- Everyone had an opinion about AI taking their job
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