From AI and labor strikes to crypto and mental health, 2023 was a year of transformation

With the new year just days away, here at The Week, we reflected on the past year's most defining moments and notable trends. 2023 was the year of…

Culture & Life

…superhero fatigue 

After over a decade of dominating Hollywood, comic book films in both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Universe "suffered a series of shocking failures in 2023, " hinting at a waning interest in the world of superheroes. 

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"Can superhero films regain the cultural relevance they once had, or does this year suggest there is no going back?" Read more.

…the loneliness epidemic

Loneliness and isolation took center stage as a public health crisis in America after the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared an "epidemic of loneliness and isolation" earlier this year. Other world leaders also turned their attention to the concerning levels of loneliness and the effect on mental health, an issue that was worsened by the global Covid pandemic lockdowns. 

"While plenty have long since returned from remote work and school, the impact of that isolation lingers, and in 2023, awareness around the issue had a new sense of urgency."  Read more. 

…overtourism backlash

After a long lull during the pandemic lockdowns, globetrotters traveled with a vengeance to reclaim the time they lost  in a phenomenon known as "revenge travel." The surge of vacationers has led to overcrowding and some pushback from places like Hawaii. 

"The lesson: Overtourism can be just as harmful as undertourism to a community, causing environmental destruction and pressure on local communities and resources." Read more. 

…nostalgia

You didn't have to look far to find something nostalgic about this year. From "cinema to street fashion, plenty happened in 2023 to trigger memories of the not-so-distant past." 

Gen Z and millennials are leading the trend toward pining for the past. Movies like Super Mario and Barbie were an ode to those collective childhoods, and fashionistas kept rocking and reviving Y2K fashion. Read more. 

…the weight loss drug craze

After years of a thriving body positivity movement, a new weight loss drug ushered in a new era of "skinny is in." Off-label use of Ozempic and other injectables like it became a hit among people looking to shed pounds. A surge in popularity amid rumors of celebrity Ozempic parties has led to shortages in pharmacies nationwide.  

"Some think the drugs could be a key to fighting obesity and chronic weight gain. Still, some experts warn they are not miracle drugs." Read more. 

Business

…labor strikes

Tensions overflowed in multiple industries this year, marking 2023 as "the year of the walkout." Most memorably, Hollywood actors and screenwriters walked off the job in Hollywood to demand "fairer working conditions and protections against the in-roads of artificial intelligence." United Auto Workers also had a consequential walkout, and healthcare workers went on strike multiple times throughout the year.

"What started as the 'summer of strikes' has expanded toward the end of 2023, and will likely continue into 2024." Read more. 

…women as economic powerhouses

Women showed off their collective buying power in 2023, boosting the economy by spending more than ever, "particularly on products and services specifically made for and by them." Women had a powerful economic impact this year between the billion-dollar box office smash "Barbie," and both Taylor Swift's Eras Tour and Beyonce's Renaissance Tour.

"Along with attending the events, women also spent money to travel to the venues and plan outfits tied to the shows." Read more. 

…crypto instability

For over a decade, cryptocurrency and the minds behind the digital currency have staked their claim in the financial sector. Many people have written their rags-to-riches stories based on their success with Bitcoin and the like. However, 2023 turned out to be a stumbling block for crypto, highlighted by the rapid rise and fall of the "founder of collapsed crypto exchange FTX," Sam Bankman-Fried. 

Despite its "ubiquitous" presence, "it seems that the financial platform reached a breaking point in 2023, which appeared to be crypto's year of highs — and lows." Read more. 

…sticker shock

Americans were undoubtedly on edge about the economy in 2023 amid the Federal Reserve's aggressive interest rate hikes and the looming threat of a recession. While the U.S. economy seemed to rally in some areas, consumers still faced "sticker shock" as inflation rose for necessities like housing and groceries. 

"Despite economic metrics booming, a strong jobs market and strength on Wall Street, there is one aspect still sowing discord among the population: price tags." Read more.

…corporate belt-tightening

Corporations were not immune to economic woes and the threat of a recession. Cutting costs and "the tightening of corporate belts is a common way that companies slash costs while staying competitive." For businesses, this usually comes in the form of widespread layoffs, company restructuring, and price adjustments.

"The trend ramped up last year, and many companies went through major bouts of belt-tightening in 2023."  Read more.

…child labor on the rise

The consecutive interest rate hikes, "designed to slow the economy and bring down stubbornly high inflation," did not keep the labor market down this year. American companies pushed back against the threat of a recession, continuing to hire employees throughout the year. 

The hiring boost helped keep the threat of a recession at bay, but it came with some "unintended consequences," namely a surge in illegal child labor "as employers brought in the cheapest labor they could find during a tight job market." Read more.

…the AI boom

Rapid advancements in artificial intelligence technology helped usher in what many considered the next era of technological innovation. Recent inventions like the metaverse and cryptocurrency were eclipsed by generative AI that could write poetry, pass MBA exams, mimic celebrity voices, and more. The viral success of one app sparked an "AI arms race." 

"ChatGPT, an advanced chatbot created by OpenAI, a former nonprofit turned tech-industry unicorn, was at the center of the enthusiasm for AI." Read more.

…the billionaire villain

Billionaires spent the year in the spotlight, and the lines between fiction and reality blurred in their villainous representation in popular culture and real life, with Elon Musk's hostile takeover of Twitter and OpenAI founder Sam Altman "drawing increased scrutiny from regulators and critics." In the media, there has been a "notable uptick in negative portrayals of the superrich," becoming the punching bag of 2023. 

"These TV billionaires are shadowy, self-involved and often in the grip of delusions of grandeur, either frittering away their money on passion projects like space travel or bent on manipulating the news environment for their own ends."  Read more.

Politics

…the migrant crises

Immigration policy has been a point of contention around the globe for generations, but "waves of people fled their homes by land or by sea in 2023, triggering migrant crisis after migrant crisis in multiple regions." Migration policy remained a battleground that "stoked domestic political feuds and diplomatic clashes." Climate-related events were one of the driving factors for the waves of displaced people, along with international conflicts. 

"Wars, like Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Hamas, drove more people to seek a better life in a new country and increased tensions once they got there." Read more.

…political never-woulds

While the country is gearing up for the political big show in 2024, this past year was "fertile ground for aspirants from across the ideological spectrum" to "boldly step forward...at exactly the wrong time." It's not abnormal for an election cycle to attract "some measure of quixotic hopefuls," but this year "has seen a particularly robust crop of baseless optimists." 

"With the caveat that nothing is written in stone, especially when it comes to American politics, the sheer proliferation of candidates who've already run into an electoral wall everyone else could see, but them has made 2023 a banner year for never-woulds who should have stopped before they ever got started." Read more.

…GOP infighting

Political in-fighting has always been a feature of politics, but internal conflicts within the Republican party made this year stand out as a particularly thorny one for the GOP. "What made this past year's Republican in-fighting so noteworthy is how disruptively widespread and personally rancorous it was." 

"Whether electing a House speaker, deposing that speaker, electing another speaker of the House, breaking strangleholds on military promotions, or simply trying to stand out on a crowded debate stage, 2023 has been the year of — and for — Republican infighting." Read more.