AI vs books
Why Generative AI Won't Disrupt Books
Elizabeth Minkel, Wired. July 2023
ℍ𝕖𝕣𝕖'𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕀 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕝𝕖
What's up?
Reading has been a point of contention for years, with several internet businesses aiming to undermine the book culture.
What's new?
Generative AI
✅ "10 X more engaging:" The information technology sector has long believed that it understands readers' needs better than they do. Books, according to tech aficionados and evangelists, are not especially appealing as a medium.They argue that artificial intelligence might make every book 10 times more entertaining, and possibly jeopardise Kindle and Audible.
Disrupt (how?)
✅ Brave new world? Reading has grown more engaging in recent years as a result of technological advancements such as social media, tablets, virtual reality, NFTs, and AI. These technologies have promised an enormous customer base for those who want to try out new methods of reading.
✅ Segment of the pie: Many novels might profit from AI treatment, but it is likely to be a small chunk of the pie. The actual extent of this slice, as well as the general public's hunger for quick novels, character discussions, and animated books in digital libraries, remains to be seen.
Won't disrupt (why?)
⛔ Ain't broke, don't fix it: The fact that many individuals trying to "fix" things couldn't properly describe what was broken may be one reason why books haven't been very disruptable. As long as the IT sector approaches readers with this mindset, their offers will always seem empty.
⛔ No takers: To a larger audience, this notion sounded ludicrous, as many people who like narrative writing are bored or uninterested in animated tomes.
⛔ The numbers: People are still buying books; print sales were over 12% higher in 2022 than in 2019.
⛔ Graveyard of failures: Despite tech's sometimes drastic effects on other industries, book- and reading-related startups have failed to alter much at all. A database of book startups currently has over 1,300 entries, many of them are labelled "Closed," along with a graveyard of defunct URLs. Because the initiatives were never intended to replace conventional books, they are distant from the tech industry's ambitions to revolutionise reading at scale.
What's next?
𝕄𝕪 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖-𝕒𝕨𝕒𝕪𝕤 - Readers read because they like the idea of holding a printed book in their hand and leaving the rest to their mind. No amount of huffing and puffing from tech mavens is likely to disrupt this need.
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