Although Stephen Marche's most recent book is ironically titled Death of an Author, in my view it could have easily been titled The Impending Death of Literature, unironically.
Full disclosure: I have not read nor do I intend to read Marche's book. But even though my boycott of it will have no impact on its popularity - and Mr. Marche could well be a decent enough human being - for me, this book personifies technology run amok. A Frankenstein made of equal parts ChatGPT, Sudowrite (how do you like that product name?), and Cohere - three Artificial Intelligence programs - Marche has been quoted as saying "I am the creator of this work, 100 percent. But, on the other hand, I didn't create the words." Were George Orwell still with us, he might be chuckling then choking in rapid succession.
I first learned of Sudowrite about six months ago in a sobering closing essay in The Week. About a month ago, my daughter introduced me to Chat GPT on her laptop; I didn't sleep well that night. A few weeks back, a news story really got my attention. It highlighted an AI pioneer who is asking the U.S. Government to step in and regulate the booming business in artificial intelligence before it is too late.
Yesterday I read a brief article in the May 19 issue of the The Week describing how Marche assembled Franken-Novella-Stein, including a closing quote where he compared his product to hip-hop. I'm neither alarmist nor Luddite. But as a lover of literature, the rapid encroachment of AI into publishing upsets me as much as hearing DJs who call themselves musicians.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/20/books/ai-novels-stephen-marche.html
Scary on so many fronts. This is a hot topic not just for literature but also to name just one other disturbing front - journalism/news reporting. There was an interview with someone on the PBS Newshour who stated that AI needs to be regulated. Probably a good thing but good luck with that. Sorry to be so snarky....
ReplyDeleteInes; Thanks for the comment and for your later e-mail with the link. The possibility of AI getting mixed up in journalism/news reporting is terrifying.
DeleteGreat post, Pat. Ever since I had a really interesting conversation with our niece, I've forced myself to try to see the positives about this technology. Admittedly, I have found a few. But stories like this are such an incredible turnoff... can't we limit the use of these technologies to places where they actually add value? So few people are gifted with the talent to write and even fewer can create literature. Their talent is a gift to the world and they should be able to make a good living without having their output stolen and commoditized by AI. With AI, every hack will be able to call themselves an author. That's true without AI, of course...anyone can write and self-publish today. But the risk is in watering down the quality of the published word and increasing the flow of Franken-content to a point that valuable literature and original content gets lost in the flood.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the extensive and thoughtful comment, sweetheart. And for the positive feedback about my post, despite the disturbing subject.
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