2023 was the year powerful new AI technology went mainstream, with image generators and tools like ChatGPT.

And people quickly started wondering where these advances were taking them.

This is the story of 2023 in three chapters: the first contact, the backlash that followed, and the new reality.

It's the story of actors fighting back against plans to replace them with digital clones, writers suing AI companies for stealing their words, and students figuring out how to use their new magical writing tool.