Just a quick note that the post by Fyodor is AI-written. I'm not sure (or hopeful?) that this is what you meant to promote...
As Fyodor explains on his About page: "The AI’s contributions, though generated, are shaped by the essence of Dostoevsky’s narrative techniques, themes, and ideas."
So glad to hear that Ted! I was taken in as well; here is how Peco described my reaction:
"It’s not clear how many of Fyodor’s readers are actually aware of the human-AI collaboration. When my wife Ruth Gaskovski read the piece about smartphone addiction, she thought it was written by a real person, only to feel “creeped out” when she realized the truth. Why? The text had stirred emotion in her. To discover that it was partly (or mostly?) a machine felt violating.
Fyodor’s text is well-wrought—I will not say written—yet almost too well, too polished. If AI is already this good, what’s next, a Booker prize? And what might that do to us as readers and writers?"
As an emerging writer and non-native English speaker, I feel honored to have made it to this list, Ted. And I'm delighted that the story of the runaway kids who made it to San Francisco in the 60s will be read by many more!
Ted, these look great (minus Fyodor for reasons of authenticity). I started with the Vanity Fair piece, which was fun and insightful. All best from the hinterlands (Dallas).
Nominating the Fyodor post for a "best online article list" isn't so much a testimonial to AI's progress as to the nominator's predilection for breadth over depth. Fyodor's post is one long succession of cliches – quite polished, as one commenter noted, but short on granular detail, personal experience, flashes of insight, unpredictability, nuance, conundrums, a multiplicity of readings, and other characteristics of the best writing that humans create. It feels AI-generated; regardless of source, it's not superb writing. It's merely good. If we read deeply, we don't need to fear AI slop - at least not at the moment...
Call me what you will - Read "We did the Math on Ai's energy footprint" . Many will find it the most disturbing ,disgusting things they have read in a Long time.
I gave up long ago talking about this looming subject. Humankind is willfully & Ignorantly embracing this future disaster for us all in oh so many ways. Corruption & an endless ,bottomless Maw of Greed insure the future Calamity this will cause.
I'll say it one last time: Ai is the one of ,if not The largest scams ever perpetrated on the Human race.
Instead of Fyodor's post, I can heartily recommend Vāneçka's Posts from the Underground, a modern retelling of Notes from the Underground. I can vouch for V.'s humanity and exceptional talent.
Gabriel Kahane! A classmate (‘03) at Brown…fellow students remember his giftedness; it was beyond the usual talent. News-wise, it’s been such a sad week, so thank you for sharing his thoughts. And thank you for your thoughts! ❤️ 🎶
I miss going to the cd store. But i dont use the fact that theyre gone to justify spending hours everyday on youtube or spotify, then bitch about how spotify is killing the music industry for artists and listeners alike.
Which isnt to say thats what you do, but it is for those folks that my smartass comment was intended. He just published an article about how libraries are dying and follows that immediately with heres a bunch of online articles you should read..? Its like people bitching about deforestation and then wiping their asses with trees.
Its occured to me that articles about what were losing or have lost are the ends, not the means. The goal is selling articles, not righting wrongs. One would think someone with a voice would use a platform such as this to inspire change, but it is not so. Perhaps we just no longer have the ability to shape our world, or perhaps nobody actually cares enough to do hard things or sacrifice their own slice of the digital manna. Or maybe its something else, idk, but what we seem to be left with is commentary. Personally i think people just like the way they feel after reading such articles, and so they just pursue that feeling over and over. Meanwhile everything we're distraught about losing is still going right down the shitter, bc while people may want to save these things, they want to be on their screens more, they want those feelings the screens provide more.
But maybe everything im describing is just me projecting my own struggles with this shit, and articles really do make a difference. Maybe its too soon to see the change, but the change is coming. Obviously i dont think so, but hell, ive been wrong before.
I paid for a subscription to ted bc i thought heres a guy that feels the same way i do that might actually inspire the changes we need to save what we can of our disappearing culture. But now im not so sure. After almost a year, im still reading basically the same articles. Perhaps hes just selling subscriptions by tapping into a growing sentiment. And perhaps thats all that *can* happen on substack, or any other online platform, bc todays important article will just be pushed out of peoples minds by tomorrows important article. Its a meme'd version of discourse. Somehow this awesome form of communication has robbed us of the very power communication gives us. The act of communicating has superseded anything important being conveyed.
Idk man, im just jaded. The holidays are rough. Sorry to dump all that on you.
Just a quick note that the post by Fyodor is AI-written. I'm not sure (or hopeful?) that this is what you meant to promote...
As Fyodor explains on his About page: "The AI’s contributions, though generated, are shaped by the essence of Dostoevsky’s narrative techniques, themes, and ideas."
My husband Peco wrote an essay in response to Fyodor's viral piece, "Dear Dostoevsky: Should we take advice from AI" https://pilgrimsinthemachine.substack.com/p/dear-dostoevsky-should-we-take-advice
I'm removing it from the list. Even if it was trained on Dostoevsky (one of my five favorite novelists), I don't want it here. Thanks for alerting me.
So glad to hear that Ted! I was taken in as well; here is how Peco described my reaction:
"It’s not clear how many of Fyodor’s readers are actually aware of the human-AI collaboration. When my wife Ruth Gaskovski read the piece about smartphone addiction, she thought it was written by a real person, only to feel “creeped out” when she realized the truth. Why? The text had stirred emotion in her. To discover that it was partly (or mostly?) a machine felt violating.
Fyodor’s text is well-wrought—I will not say written—yet almost too well, too polished. If AI is already this good, what’s next, a Booker prize? And what might that do to us as readers and writers?"
As an emerging writer and non-native English speaker, I feel honored to have made it to this list, Ted. And I'm delighted that the story of the runaway kids who made it to San Francisco in the 60s will be read by many more!
Thank you kindly Ted.
I really appreciated Finding Peter Putnam. Another piece of a puzzle I’ve been working on these days.
Thank you very much for this, Ted!
Great article, great responses ... thus far.
Finding Peter Putnam was a great read. Thanks for the recommendations!
Ted, these look great (minus Fyodor for reasons of authenticity). I started with the Vanity Fair piece, which was fun and insightful. All best from the hinterlands (Dallas).
Nominating the Fyodor post for a "best online article list" isn't so much a testimonial to AI's progress as to the nominator's predilection for breadth over depth. Fyodor's post is one long succession of cliches – quite polished, as one commenter noted, but short on granular detail, personal experience, flashes of insight, unpredictability, nuance, conundrums, a multiplicity of readings, and other characteristics of the best writing that humans create. It feels AI-generated; regardless of source, it's not superb writing. It's merely good. If we read deeply, we don't need to fear AI slop - at least not at the moment...
Call me what you will - Read "We did the Math on Ai's energy footprint" . Many will find it the most disturbing ,disgusting things they have read in a Long time.
I gave up long ago talking about this looming subject. Humankind is willfully & Ignorantly embracing this future disaster for us all in oh so many ways. Corruption & an endless ,bottomless Maw of Greed insure the future Calamity this will cause.
I'll say it one last time: Ai is the one of ,if not The largest scams ever perpetrated on the Human race.
Dammit, Ted. This is going to take some time to get through.
Though I’ve yet to read this piece… it was nice to see you quoted in today’s WSJ.
Reading and loving each of these articles, but questions linger:
How did you find them? How did we miss them? How can we ensure we never miss them? How can we improve our search to often find them?
Instead of Fyodor's post, I can heartily recommend Vāneçka's Posts from the Underground, a modern retelling of Notes from the Underground. I can vouch for V.'s humanity and exceptional talent.
https://blog.nova-nevedoma.com/p/posts-from-underground-11
Gabriel Kahane! A classmate (‘03) at Brown…fellow students remember his giftedness; it was beyond the usual talent. News-wise, it’s been such a sad week, so thank you for sharing his thoughts. And thank you for your thoughts! ❤️ 🎶
Loved these recommendations! So many intriguing stories
Good stuff! Cant hardly blame people for not going to the library
I very much miss going to the Library
I miss going to the cd store. But i dont use the fact that theyre gone to justify spending hours everyday on youtube or spotify, then bitch about how spotify is killing the music industry for artists and listeners alike.
Which isnt to say thats what you do, but it is for those folks that my smartass comment was intended. He just published an article about how libraries are dying and follows that immediately with heres a bunch of online articles you should read..? Its like people bitching about deforestation and then wiping their asses with trees.
Its occured to me that articles about what were losing or have lost are the ends, not the means. The goal is selling articles, not righting wrongs. One would think someone with a voice would use a platform such as this to inspire change, but it is not so. Perhaps we just no longer have the ability to shape our world, or perhaps nobody actually cares enough to do hard things or sacrifice their own slice of the digital manna. Or maybe its something else, idk, but what we seem to be left with is commentary. Personally i think people just like the way they feel after reading such articles, and so they just pursue that feeling over and over. Meanwhile everything we're distraught about losing is still going right down the shitter, bc while people may want to save these things, they want to be on their screens more, they want those feelings the screens provide more.
But maybe everything im describing is just me projecting my own struggles with this shit, and articles really do make a difference. Maybe its too soon to see the change, but the change is coming. Obviously i dont think so, but hell, ive been wrong before.
I paid for a subscription to ted bc i thought heres a guy that feels the same way i do that might actually inspire the changes we need to save what we can of our disappearing culture. But now im not so sure. After almost a year, im still reading basically the same articles. Perhaps hes just selling subscriptions by tapping into a growing sentiment. And perhaps thats all that *can* happen on substack, or any other online platform, bc todays important article will just be pushed out of peoples minds by tomorrows important article. Its a meme'd version of discourse. Somehow this awesome form of communication has robbed us of the very power communication gives us. The act of communicating has superseded anything important being conveyed.
Idk man, im just jaded. The holidays are rough. Sorry to dump all that on you.
Omg! So wonderful!! You deserve 👏👏👏📚👏👏👏.