Also how is this a startup when people have been doing this in the Amazon self-publishing market for a decade now? - ThreadSky

tressiemcphd.bsky.social • 13 days ago

Also how is this a startup when people have been doing this in the Amazon self-publishing market for a decade now?

Meet the startup, backed by big Silicon Valley investors, Macmillan's owner, and former HarperCollins and Penguin execs, that wants authors to "just spitball a few bullet points" to get AI to write books — "and then suddenly each author is writing 1,000 books." 👀 www.bloomberg.com/features/202...

Comments

lizmc2.bsky.social•13 days ago

To me the most depressing part of this is that actual romance writers who actually write their books have often been in the vanguard of trends like ebooks and self-publishing. This shows (again) how little publishers respect their work and innovation.

tressiemcphd.bsky.social•13 days ago

The idea of a “customizable” genre fiction book that isn’t a choose-your-own-adventure banger for kids is so deeply depressing.

The internet really is going to shred the very fabric of sociality.

tressiemcphd.bsky.social•13 days ago

And the levels of scam all the way down. Whew

tressiemcphd.bsky.social•13 days ago

I am about to deliver a lecture at Library Fest in Durham. Scrapped my whole intro just to read these words aloud: “Galatea’s catalog of titles from some 400 authors is overseen by just one head of editorial and five “story intelligence analysts,” plus the stable of freelancers.”

tressiemcphd.bsky.social•13 days ago

Being disappointed in a book is literally what makes us human. I won’t entertain otherwise. This is horribly bleak.

tressiemcphd.bsky.social•13 days ago

You invest in characters who go on to make decisions that disappoint you and because they’re made up people you cannot kill or harm them for it. You learn to self-soothe. You learn to manage expectations. You learn how to be resilient.

milesinrva.bsky.social•13 days ago

Only need a few more steps before folks are paying for an "entertainment subscription" where AI custom creates your shows, books (audio & tablet) VR headset adventures, etc.

I've read sci-fi novels like this and it is nothing if not terrifying.

dalydes.bsky.social•13 days ago

wakandalibrarian.bsky.social•13 days ago

Talk about reheating nachos (am I using that right, tiktokers?)

grippysockgoblin.bsky.social•13 days ago

Lol. It just shows how much they have in common with crypto crap. Repackaged ideas with some new window dressing.

laffytaffy32945.bsky.social•13 days ago

The thing that gives me hope is that AI is designed to produce middle-of-the-road content. The best it can do is "average"

joshuafoust.com•13 days ago

And they don’t even need AI for it! There are enough underemployed writers that it’s affordable for individuals to contract genre ghost writers relatively easily if you don’t care too much about personality or flair, just grinding out novellas. It’s a perfect solution-searching-for-problem.

tressiemcphd.bsky.social•13 days ago

They solved the problem of stealing IP without murder or legal counsel. Heh.

joshuafoust.com•13 days ago

The pointed anti-humanity of this tech is really, like, physically off-putting 😡

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply