A lot is being made of AI. Writers are terrified. All kinds of people will be out of work as soon as we figure out how to harness it correctly. It will be a lot like the calculator.
This blog is basically about how we rush into these things like you would a marriage when you haven't really thought through all the consequences. Some of the consequences are less desirable than others but doesn't matter, too late, we did it, we lost.
Back in the day, people used to memorize whole books, like the Iliad, but they lost that skill when the printing press was invented. We just didn't need the skill anymore. In my generation people forgot how to add, subtract, mulltiply and divide large numbers, because everyone had a calculator and it wasn't necessary. Nobody would argue with me that it was not a useful skill to have, to do these things, yet most people I knew didn't bother learning. The same with GPS. Why bother knowing which way is north, if your phone knows and you can ask it?
I have this one idea about using AI effectively. I could write 45 bioographies, one of each president, in the amount of time it takes to write out the request. If somebody reads this before I actually do it I'm screwed but oh well. Those who use AI well will be at a huge advantage.
One thing I can tell by keeping my eye on the book marketing situation is that there are thousands more books now, probably a thousand new ones per day. A HUGE number of books is just being piled into a crowded market. If I could write 45 books in ten minutes, why not? Or at least set them up, collect the facts, organize. AI can do all that. I just need to be good at setting it up.
I'm all for the married life, for better or for worse. At least I'm reflecting on the morality of it.
