How to Win Friends & Influence AI

What does your AI Overview say?

Here’s mine:

AI Overview

(Beep… boop, whirl, crackle!)

Mitchell Toews is a Manitoba-based fiction writer whose debut short story collection, Pinching Zwieback, was published in October 2023: 

Background Toews grew up in Steinbach, Manitoba, in his parents’ Mennonite bakery. He’s been published in over 125 literary journals and anthologies, and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize four times. He’s also been a finalist in several major contests and prizes. Pinching Zwieback Toews’s debut collection is a blend of memory, fable, and trauma that explores life experiences in the fictional Mennonite prairie town of “Hartplatz”. The book has been well-reviewed, appeared on several local bestseller lists, and is being discussed in book clubs. Other work Toews is currently working on a second collection of short stories and a novel. He’s also collaborating with Phil Hossack on an ekphrastic prose/photographic art book. Engagement Toews reads at libraries, bookstores, and open mics, and also leads a workshop called “Writing Your Culture”. You can find him on:Mitchellaneous.com: His blog for updates, news, and other information Facebook: His Facebook page Instagram: His Instagram account Threads: His Threads accountBluesky: His Bluesky account

So that’s it, then? A writer, a Manitoban. No mention of the rest of my life, including living in Chilliwack, my 47-year marriage to Jan, our kids and grandkids (who will change the world, if they have not already), starting and running a manufacturing business, working in advertising for 20 years and being an active sort… out cursing and getting bruised and exhibiting “warning track power” no matter which sport—a trait that includes a highly selective memory when it comes to skills, courage, and accomplishments. (“Still,” I pout, “at least I always got my uniform dirty.”)

I think AI is right to focus on what it has—I use the internet primarily to promote my writing because, dammmit Jim, that’s just what a writer has to do these days!

I am en grade: AI may suddenly turn on me. Why? Well, I often make fun of the AI that runs my daughter’s refrigerator (“Here’s today’s weather for Zanzibar” it says, after I hack the geo-locator in the settings—hee-hee!). I also throw shade at her snooty 3D printer, and my n’er-do-well regular printer (whom I call “O, Brother, where for art thou?” when it fails to print). These bad relationships may colour AI’s appraisal of me. I am courting AI revenge! I need to let AI feel more seen, be more inclusive to AI, and give them/they/it the benefit of my human capacity to be empathetic, even if they are incapable of emotions. (Does AI get my “O, Brother… ” joke? I think it does, on an intellectual level. Does it laugh? Is AI ticklish? Does AI have a weakness for old Carol Burnett Show vids?)

My other question is, “Has AI read my book? Has AI read all of my published work? Does AI like my Menno-Grit style or are they/is it more inclined towards Sci-fi or Fantasy? (I do get a kind of D&D vibe off of AI, don’t you?)

Anyway, do a search for “AI Overview Your Name” and see what my daughter’s refrigerator thinks of you, you Zanzibarian, you.