Word Pimpin' Ain't Easy
This story just pisses me off...
Man Uses AI to Write 97 Terrible Books
I call these people "word pimps" -- I refused to actually call them writers. There'll be more as generative AI continues to gain traction.
And while the article talks about the books created were truly junk, and the guy sold only $2000 worth of them, it's still frightening for a flesh & blood writer like myself, who's devoted most of his life to writing.
As the technology improves, there's at least the possibility that AI word pimpery will improve. That's the nature of technology.
The only thing I'd say is that the discernment necessary in storytelling will perhaps stymie the word pimps. Simply put: if you're the sort of creep who tries to do this, you're too lazy to actually review the work and already lack the ability to do it yourself, so, you still suck, even if the AI is churning out content for you.
Word pimps aren't storytellers; they are frauds and charlatans hoping to make a quick buck.
My concern is mostly about them tossing out this prose pollution into the already packed waters of publishing. You've seen my grousing about junk writing before, how hard it makes it for actual writers to be seen. The arrival of the word pimps will put even more junk writing into the waters.
The only solace I tell myself is this AI maelstrom will put a higher value on writing as a boutique art than in years past. The system might rely on AI in some fashion, but the ability to tell a good story (versus a formulaic one) will remain a valuable human commodity.
The first to fall among the writing world will be the junk writers and the mediocre writers. AI will steamroll them in time. The better writers (and, yeah, I include myself among them. Try reading my books and you'll see) may have a longer shelf life, despite the efforts of the word pimps, for the reasons I said above.
Word pimps aren't storytellers; they're hustlers. And while writers these days need to hustle, there's at least a genuine work they're offering, versus the artificial. My admittedly idealistic hope is that human writers can elevate themselves as such, even as the word pimps clog the publishing waterways with their junk.
Man Uses AI to Write 97 Terrible Books
I call these people "word pimps" -- I refused to actually call them writers. There'll be more as generative AI continues to gain traction.
And while the article talks about the books created were truly junk, and the guy sold only $2000 worth of them, it's still frightening for a flesh & blood writer like myself, who's devoted most of his life to writing.
As the technology improves, there's at least the possibility that AI word pimpery will improve. That's the nature of technology.
The only thing I'd say is that the discernment necessary in storytelling will perhaps stymie the word pimps. Simply put: if you're the sort of creep who tries to do this, you're too lazy to actually review the work and already lack the ability to do it yourself, so, you still suck, even if the AI is churning out content for you.
Word pimps aren't storytellers; they are frauds and charlatans hoping to make a quick buck.
My concern is mostly about them tossing out this prose pollution into the already packed waters of publishing. You've seen my grousing about junk writing before, how hard it makes it for actual writers to be seen. The arrival of the word pimps will put even more junk writing into the waters.
The only solace I tell myself is this AI maelstrom will put a higher value on writing as a boutique art than in years past. The system might rely on AI in some fashion, but the ability to tell a good story (versus a formulaic one) will remain a valuable human commodity.
The first to fall among the writing world will be the junk writers and the mediocre writers. AI will steamroll them in time. The better writers (and, yeah, I include myself among them. Try reading my books and you'll see) may have a longer shelf life, despite the efforts of the word pimps, for the reasons I said above.
Word pimps aren't storytellers; they're hustlers. And while writers these days need to hustle, there's at least a genuine work they're offering, versus the artificial. My admittedly idealistic hope is that human writers can elevate themselves as such, even as the word pimps clog the publishing waterways with their junk.
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