IN WHICH an unusual perspective on AI-assisted art gets some air time.
Category: essays
On “Nemesis”
IN WHICH the author contemplates the utility of nemeses, artistic and professional.
The best fantasy novels that reimagine society
IN WHICH a listicle is linked, described, and mused about as a retrenchment of the Internet of the aughts.
Automating income… ?
For context: Clarkesworld Magazine, one of the best-regarded short fiction outlets for science fiction and fantasy, closed submissions Monday due to a flood of bot-generated spam. I’m not as confident about the last line as OP, but it sure seems plausible. If it’s correct, though… maybe it’s self-correcting? Email spam works because you can email… Continue reading Automating income… ?
The square-cube law
I posted some quick thoughts on generative AI on a closed Facebook group for the Alliance of Independent Authors. Then I tried to find them and, WOW, is searching a Facebook group a miserable experience. So here they are, in case I ever want to find them again: I think the philosophical question here is… Continue reading The square-cube law
2022: An epilogue
I obviously haven’t made as much use of this blog as I’d have liked since I resurrected it this summer. Figuring out how to balance this with writing, the newsletter, and the other 95% of life is an ongoing project. But I’ve got a bit of free time at this end of 2022, and since… Continue reading 2022: An epilogue
King? Or jester?
We watched Hasan Minhaj’s new Netflix special, THE KING’S JESTER, this weekend; spoilers follow. It makes for an interesting contrast with HOMECOMING KING. The overall structure is similar, an arc punctuated by digressions, and Minhaj is still very deft at circling the digressions back to the main arc in unexpected ways, usually embroidered with some… Continue reading King? Or jester?
“We all try to give gifts to the future,”
said Carol. “It doesn’t mean they’ll use them the way we envision, or even in ways we’d approve of. You have to give gifts lightly — that’s one of my values. I’m going to tell you something.” “You’ve been telling us things already,” said Phosphorus, I thought a bit sharply. “Something new. We haven’t talked… Continue reading “We all try to give gifts to the future,”
The Parable of Jani Lane
I mean who in the Year of Our Lord 2022 is going to disagree with a blog post that says “Reject the Algorithm” — but Nick Maggiuli still offers a nice read w/r/t the case for rejecting the algorithm. I mean it’s absolutely a return to the sort of “cream rises to the top” magical… Continue reading The Parable of Jani Lane
There are no objective metrics
Kristine Kathryn Rusch has a post up today on “How Writers Fail”; the topic is “competition.” Specifically, the thesis is that viewing yourself as competing with other writers will tend to provide excuses not to write, because there’s always a worse writer doing better than you. If you’re competing against someone less skilled and they… Continue reading There are no objective metrics