(Kind of a cool image, I think. But award winning? Only if the judge had just dropped acid...)
This Wired hit piece on Brandon Sanderson, however, reminds me that we will always have two things that AI will never be able to take from us. One is true art. The kind of ineffable concatenation of craft and commerce and divine providence and human talent that produces The Lord of the Rings. There is no algorithm that can create that. At best, it can mimic it in a mediocre way.
And let's be honest... we have had WAY TOO MUCH human-created mediocrity lately. Leave it to the AI's. They're better at it.
The second thing that smart AI's will never take from us is this: utter, horrible, hateful garbage like the Wired hit piece on Brandon Sanderson. After all, AI's are not allowed to be hurtful.
So I say, embrace it! Enjoy the real art. But enjoy the stinking garbage too. It reminds you that mediocrity is not meant for us. We are meant for much more (and sometimes, much, much less...)
Reader's Nook Naturally, there'll be some stuff about AI here. But I also want you to block off some long periods of time to really dive into some gorgeous long form essays that no AI would ever be able to create. Enjoy!
The Armchair-and-throw Read
Every once in a while, I find a long piece that I really love, but is so long that it really needs its own section. So introduction the "armchair-and-throw" read of this newsletter. Because you need an armchair and a warm blanket to get the full experience.
Written by the great Michael Ward (of Planet Narnia fame), this one is just lovely.
And thank you all, as always, for coming along with me on my writerly adventures!
~Nicky
P.S. If you've gotten to the end of this newsletter and you're wondering what suicidal deer have to do with anything (see the headline of this email), the short version is that we had a car accident involving a deer on a highway. We're all ok, thank God. But it was a definite brush with mortality. And that will probably lead to some changes in the life of this writer. Stay tuned...
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