Why Time Magazine named them “Best AI Builders” of the year: “Whatever the question, AI is the answer.”

In what has become a tradition every few years, Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” is not an individual for 2025, but a group and a concept. In this case, that’s what time calls it,”Artificial intelligence engineers“.

Time editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs he said in a note about the cover story The power and influence of artificial intelligence has been ever-present in 2025, advancing rapidly and making the impossible possible.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased technical content and lab reviews. Add CNET As Google’s preferred source.

“This was the year when the full potential of AI became apparent, and when it became clear that there was no going back or opting out,” Jacobs wrote. “Whatever the question was, AI was the answer.”

The magazine’s two covers for the December 29 issue are an image of the word AI with scaffolding and workers around it, and one with AI leaders including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, AMD CEO Lisa Su, Elon Musk, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang among others on a construction beam above New York, evoking the image of 1932. Lunch on top of a skyscraper.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that it infringed Ziff Davis’s copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Artificial intelligence is big 2025

The time envelope puts a cap on a busy year Artificial intelligence innovation, Controversy and news.

As with many previous Person of the Year covers, it represents an era of great technological change. Previous winners of the award include “You” (for user-generated media in 2006), “Computer” (Machine of the Year, 1982), and “American Scientists” (1960).

However, the decision to make AI the cover title for 2025 reflects the extent to which AI has permeated science, government, the workplace, education and media.

“AI has been the center of gravity of the 2025 economy and a source of endless discussions about how it will shape the future of our societies,” said Thomas Howson, principal analyst at Forrester Research. “In this regard, it is fair to single out AI engineers in the strict sense of the word ‘impact’.

Howson said that the year 2025 represents a turning point for artificial intelligence, and that the coming year promises to make these technologies more personal and integrated into daily life as more people globally turn to artificial intelligence to perform tasks or even for companionship.

The Time magazine article pointed out not only how artificial intelligence is changing things, but also the ambivalence and fear that many feel toward this technology.

“‘For Better or For Worse’ is also a fair summary given how polarized consumers are when it comes to AI,” Howson said. “Forty-five percent of online adults in the US and UK agree that AI poses a serious threat to society; however, 45% of them also believe that generative AI will make life easier in the long term.”