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Given that, I was easy pickings for a PR release I received last week. The subject line: “AI book reviewers?” The press release touted “the first book to ever be reviewed by AI avatars.” I’ve written book reviews, and my books have been reviewed, and I know that the best examples of that art are penetrating and illuminating. Had someone cracked the code to do that via AI?
So I followed up, and I found that the touted “book reviews” weren't quite what I had in mind. It turns out that a PR firm was promoting a novel called, one of those dystopian scenarios where a heroic human fights back against AI overlords, and the firm had come up with some AI gimmickry. It created a set of AI-generated characters—a rogue android, a time traveler, etc.—and had those characters offer assessments of the book.
Sounds great, until you hear the details. The two- or three-sentence, ChatGPT-generated “book reviews” only drew on the jacket copy and some Amazon reviews. The avatars did not get access to the actual text of the book, “for copyright reasons.” Since most reviewers prefer to actually put eyes on the pages of the book they’re judging, these AI-generated comments would seem to not qualify as actual reviews.
"Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution" by Steven Levy is a classic exploration of the early days of the computer industry and the pioneering individuals who shaped its development. Originally published in 1984, the book provides an insightful and engaging look into the world of computer enthusiasts, tinkerers, and programmers who were instrumental in laying the foundation for modern computing and internet culture.Hackers.