It takes only moments for AI to “write” a book, but it will still take hours, even days, for a person to read one. It used to be the other way around; the writer labored far longer than the reader. It made reading books feel worthwhile, to know that. Now? The Library of Babel.
Atypically he’s making the same BEDBUG mistake as Budweiser, losing EMPATHY with readers.
Kirn lives in a literary world where everyone knows how hard writing is. Readers don’t know or care. Readers drink a book for its flavor and alcohol content. Readers gain brand loyalty naturally when a writer produces a consistent flavor and a consistently high alcohol content.
Readers don’t care if the product is made by a machine or a human. Many popular writers ARE machines, churning out the same product after the front man dies. There’s no practical difference between the Ludlum machine and AI.
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Later, a more precise Bud analogy. I used to read lots of fiction. In the ’90s many authors started out with good flavor and 7% alcohol, then suddenly tossed a bedbug into the glass.
Ha ha ha! You thought these normal characters were good? Normal people are HORRIBLE and so are you, you HORRIBLE RACIST MISOGYNIST SEXIST PIG!
After these bugswallows became consistent, I gave up ALL modern books. When you punch customers in the face you ultimately spoil the whole product, not just your own brand. The same thing happened with newspapers and TV and politics and “medicine”.
Polistra's Mill 