When I saw this ad my jaw was on the floor in disbelief. Truly a sign of dystopian times.
On a side note I did just want to quickly point out a perspective on reading more than 30 books a year since you said that is hard for you to imagine. I have a goal set for myself of 50 books - which would be my largest reading year ever - but what I've come to realize is thats really only about an hour of reading a day. I think most, if not all of us, could dedicate an hour to reading instead of tik tok, instagram, tv, etc.
true !! i guess i was purely talking from personal experience there. i think the most i have ever read in a year was 24 books.. and it was because we were in lockdown
The performativity aspect bugs me less than how AI further compresses our cognitive processes. AI can help expand our thinking, but most people are using it to make things more convenient, in ways that compress it. What's the point of reading fiction if they're just going to dump it down into its bare bones? I hope the writing/publishing industry doesn't change itself to fit AI culture.
exactly my thoughts! and about the publishing industry... i don't know, i am actually concerned. i noticed some publishing houses are using AI to create covers or translate books so they don't have to pay real people... it's sad
Nooooo translating fiction is so hard, you have to be so good at both contexts for the book to even make sense or to be enjoyable, the whole reason is not appreciated enough is because good translations don’t even feel translated in the first place 😔
I’ve seen ads from people selling seminars and strategies on how to publish books written by AI and sell them on Amazon. Seems like it’s already happening.
Goodness me. This is getting beyond a joke. Facebook writing groups allowing AI are becoming more popular too where so many "writers" use AI. It's too much nowadays and addictive. I'd rather it cook or clean for me so I have more time for my writing, but I don't want it to do my craft for me!
This piece makes me realise that we are losing the essence of reading books and the excessive use of AI is ruining the process of feeling the emotions we need to feel . This is really starting to feel like a dystopian world. I enjoyed reading your piece .
Wow. I’m so glad I’m not on TikTok right now. And that I’m staying as far away from AI as possible. I feel like the bubble will burst at some point. We’re already seeing a lot of folks rebelling against it. There is hope for an anti-ai way of life, I have to believe it.
I suppose I truly have been living somewhat under a rock, the last couple of years, because just recently am I starting to realize that people are actually using AI daily for regular things. I had no idea this was happening. Granted, I’ve been off IG, TikTok, and FB for a while now. And recently on Substack I’ve been seeing so many people discuss others using Ai to write and it’s completely baffled me. I couldn’t even fathom that many people who would choose such a mindless route but of course, I shouldn’t be shocked. Ease and convenience ARE the way of society. It’s very unfortunate. I haven’t seen a good movie released in years it seems. I read somewhere that studios are most apt to produce films that can be watched in 2x since that seems to be an ACTUAL preference for people now??? Like wtf. Service everywhere feels mediocre. Able people choosing Ozempic over naturally eating different and exercising. I hate it all.
yayy so glad to be back so i can keep up with one of my fav ppl on substack 👀 and you are right, i am trying to avoid it as much as possible now. the way it's being normalized everywhere rn is concerning
If reading summaries of books is considered reading I've read a little over 100 this year too, I've also "binged" A couple of series and movies. At least none were from AI 🤐
She’s baaaaack! So happy to see your username in my inbox :) and this is genuinely crazy and freaking me out too. I didn’t know this was something people were doing with books until reading this and…. we’re cooked 😭
Very interesting piece. Since reading has been changed into a TikTok business, I suspected it will come to people sharing fake reviews, it;s nothing new. And maybe a few years ago I would be shocked and disgusted by the "AI reading."
Now I don't even care that much. Everything on TikTok seems a little bit performative and OK, some people are making bank on lying to their followers, but sooner or later it will catch up to them.
What's the fun in life if you have to fake your way not only though unpleasant tasks like writing boring emails at work but through actual entertainment? I will say this: WALL-E tried to warn us.
Oh, I read Brave New World earlier this year and the feeling was eerie. The more and more it seemed like a self-fulfilled prophecy. Imagine a society were no one wants to feel inconvenienced or uncomfortable, all media is digestible and easy and no one reads anymore. And lowkey, that’s where we seem to be heading to. Maybe there is not an actual drug, like soma, poisoning our society, but these new forms of social media feel that way. They are only made to be addicting and catering to what keeps us entertained… and people are hooked on them. Now, AI has made it worse.
saw this on twitter the other day!! genuinely it threw me for a loop because i can’t imagine calling book summaries reading. makes you really think about how we got to this point and why we’ve become so dependent on ai doing everything for us. your piece encapsulated my thoughts exactly. good to see you’re back ☺️
This is so true!!!! After months of getting ai to write my soulless corporate emails, I’ve willed myself to actually think, and now my emails aren’t so soulless and have a touch of human personality 🙌
"I still can’t stomach how someone could read more than thirty books a year, to be honest."
I totally get how hard it could be to stomach all of that, but I assure you that it's possible; this year, I've got 33 under my belt, and I'm aiming at 40. You ~do~ make an important point, however, when you say that the social currency of intelligence has shifted from intellect and competence to numbers and tallying books read. However, I assure you that some of us ~are~ as nerdy as you rightly wish more people would be!
When I saw this ad my jaw was on the floor in disbelief. Truly a sign of dystopian times.
On a side note I did just want to quickly point out a perspective on reading more than 30 books a year since you said that is hard for you to imagine. I have a goal set for myself of 50 books - which would be my largest reading year ever - but what I've come to realize is thats really only about an hour of reading a day. I think most, if not all of us, could dedicate an hour to reading instead of tik tok, instagram, tv, etc.
true !! i guess i was purely talking from personal experience there. i think the most i have ever read in a year was 24 books.. and it was because we were in lockdown
The performativity aspect bugs me less than how AI further compresses our cognitive processes. AI can help expand our thinking, but most people are using it to make things more convenient, in ways that compress it. What's the point of reading fiction if they're just going to dump it down into its bare bones? I hope the writing/publishing industry doesn't change itself to fit AI culture.
exactly my thoughts! and about the publishing industry... i don't know, i am actually concerned. i noticed some publishing houses are using AI to create covers or translate books so they don't have to pay real people... it's sad
Nooooo translating fiction is so hard, you have to be so good at both contexts for the book to even make sense or to be enjoyable, the whole reason is not appreciated enough is because good translations don’t even feel translated in the first place 😔
I’ve seen ads from people selling seminars and strategies on how to publish books written by AI and sell them on Amazon. Seems like it’s already happening.
That's sad. I don't understand how people can take credit for work they didn't produce.
Goodness me. This is getting beyond a joke. Facebook writing groups allowing AI are becoming more popular too where so many "writers" use AI. It's too much nowadays and addictive. I'd rather it cook or clean for me so I have more time for my writing, but I don't want it to do my craft for me!
exactly AI should make our lives easier, not make us dumber
This piece makes me realise that we are losing the essence of reading books and the excessive use of AI is ruining the process of feeling the emotions we need to feel . This is really starting to feel like a dystopian world. I enjoyed reading your piece .
thank you for reading!!
Wow. I’m so glad I’m not on TikTok right now. And that I’m staying as far away from AI as possible. I feel like the bubble will burst at some point. We’re already seeing a lot of folks rebelling against it. There is hope for an anti-ai way of life, I have to believe it.
it has to!! it's getting to a point where it either gets banned or limited by official laws, or the bubble ends up exploding...
haha the comment she left in response just cemented the fact she’s definitely rage baiting but even so…
I suppose I truly have been living somewhat under a rock, the last couple of years, because just recently am I starting to realize that people are actually using AI daily for regular things. I had no idea this was happening. Granted, I’ve been off IG, TikTok, and FB for a while now. And recently on Substack I’ve been seeing so many people discuss others using Ai to write and it’s completely baffled me. I couldn’t even fathom that many people who would choose such a mindless route but of course, I shouldn’t be shocked. Ease and convenience ARE the way of society. It’s very unfortunate. I haven’t seen a good movie released in years it seems. I read somewhere that studios are most apt to produce films that can be watched in 2x since that seems to be an ACTUAL preference for people now??? Like wtf. Service everywhere feels mediocre. Able people choosing Ozempic over naturally eating different and exercising. I hate it all.
So glad you're back!! Missed you! And ugh this is so dystopian -- this is why I don't use AI for anything. It's such a slippery slope!
yayy so glad to be back so i can keep up with one of my fav ppl on substack 👀 and you are right, i am trying to avoid it as much as possible now. the way it's being normalized everywhere rn is concerning
If reading summaries of books is considered reading I've read a little over 100 this year too, I've also "binged" A couple of series and movies. At least none were from AI 🤐
like let's at least read summaries written by real people 😭
She’s baaaaack! So happy to see your username in my inbox :) and this is genuinely crazy and freaking me out too. I didn’t know this was something people were doing with books until reading this and…. we’re cooked 😭
Very interesting piece. Since reading has been changed into a TikTok business, I suspected it will come to people sharing fake reviews, it;s nothing new. And maybe a few years ago I would be shocked and disgusted by the "AI reading."
Now I don't even care that much. Everything on TikTok seems a little bit performative and OK, some people are making bank on lying to their followers, but sooner or later it will catch up to them.
What's the fun in life if you have to fake your way not only though unpleasant tasks like writing boring emails at work but through actual entertainment? I will say this: WALL-E tried to warn us.
Oh, I read Brave New World earlier this year and the feeling was eerie. The more and more it seemed like a self-fulfilled prophecy. Imagine a society were no one wants to feel inconvenienced or uncomfortable, all media is digestible and easy and no one reads anymore. And lowkey, that’s where we seem to be heading to. Maybe there is not an actual drug, like soma, poisoning our society, but these new forms of social media feel that way. They are only made to be addicting and catering to what keeps us entertained… and people are hooked on them. Now, AI has made it worse.
saw this on twitter the other day!! genuinely it threw me for a loop because i can’t imagine calling book summaries reading. makes you really think about how we got to this point and why we’ve become so dependent on ai doing everything for us. your piece encapsulated my thoughts exactly. good to see you’re back ☺️
This is so true!!!! After months of getting ai to write my soulless corporate emails, I’ve willed myself to actually think, and now my emails aren’t so soulless and have a touch of human personality 🙌
isn't the sobrief girl on tiktok sponsored or something
"I still can’t stomach how someone could read more than thirty books a year, to be honest."
I totally get how hard it could be to stomach all of that, but I assure you that it's possible; this year, I've got 33 under my belt, and I'm aiming at 40. You ~do~ make an important point, however, when you say that the social currency of intelligence has shifted from intellect and competence to numbers and tallying books read. However, I assure you that some of us ~are~ as nerdy as you rightly wish more people would be!