Time Names 'Architects of AI' as Person of the Year

TIME Magazine's 2023 Person of the Year: The Architects of AI

Annually in December, TIME Magazine designates a “Person of the Year” – an individual who has exerted the most significant influence on global events and news coverage, regardless of whether that influence is positive or negative. Previously, President Donald Trump was selected twice, and in the preceding year, Taylor Swift received the honor, with some attributing her Eras Tour to bolstering economic stability.

Notably, in 1938, Adolf Hitler was the recipient of this distinction. This year, TIME has deviated from tradition by recognizing not a single person, but a collective: the individuals dubbed the “Architects of AI.”

Shaping the Global AI Landscape

This group consists of the CEOs at the forefront of the rapidly evolving global artificial intelligence race, primarily based in the United States. Given the widespread public focus on AI, which evokes both optimism in some and economic concerns in many, as indicated by recent Edelman research, this selection is particularly relevant.

According to TIME’s accompanying article, “For decades, humankind steeled itself for the rise of thinking machines.” Early proponents and developers, including figures like Sam Altman and Elon Musk, cautioned that the pursuit of AI’s capabilities could potentially lead to unforeseen and detrimental consequences.

However, this year witnessed a shift from debating the responsible implementation of AI to a concentrated effort to deploy it as quickly as possible.

Key Figures in the AI Revolution

One of TIME’s cover images highlights several prominent figures central to this advancement. These include Jensen Huang of Nvidia, Elon Musk of Tesla, Sam Altman of OpenAI, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Lisa Su of AMD, Dario Amodei of Anthropic, Demis Hassabis of Google DeepMind, and Fei-Fei Li of World Labs.

These individuals have been engaged in a competitive dynamic, working “both beside and against each other” in the pursuit of AI innovation.

Reshaping Policy and Geopolitics

Through substantial investments – amounting to billions of dollars – in what TIME describes as “one of the biggest physical infrastructure projects of all time,” these leaders have significantly impacted governmental policies.

Furthermore, they have intensified geopolitical competition and accelerated the widespread adoption of AI technologies.

Cover Leak and Announcement

While TIME officially revealed its choice on Thursday morning, images of the cover were prematurely circulated on the prediction market platform Polymarket the previous evening.