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ChatGPT and ‘Where the Buffalo Roam’

“Give me a home where the buffalo roam” is the refrain from a nostalgic song about the old West. It’s tie-in to ChatGPT is the sense of randomness—that thing that both buffalo and humans share and artificial intelligence lacks.

Fiction is a delicate thing because of what it is not. It is the story, usually of a person or an event, that has the surprise, chaos, beauty and struggle of its characters. Those characters are not the composite of all humans or events—which ChatGPT is really good at—but the sorrow and joy of life itself, which is utterly random. Think of your own life and how it bloomed and blossomed or wilted and nearly died from specific and unknown paths you would never have suspected.

That’s what we do, who we are as humans. That’s what AI can only replicate. Is your life a replication of all lives, a common denominator of lifetimes? I think not. Mine has certainly had its share of griefs and unexpected winnings. That’s why AI will never write an outstanding novel, because by its very definition it is not outstanding. It’s very good and blindingly quick but it will always be composite.

Margarine is not butter. That’s why there will always be those who pay just a bit more for something that comes from the cow.

Like butter, a well-drawn character or memorable story must come directly from the cow.

Thinkers I admire: Seth Godin

The low-stakes argument “It’s tempting,” he writes, “and fun to argue about the logo. About the way the toilet paper is hung. About how to load the trunk of the car. “These sorts of arguments work precisely because they don’t matter. At all. “And they distract us from...

Elon Musk, on “Lords and Peasants”

We’re talking about unions here, and the right to organize. Musk has been quoted as saying, “I just don’t like anything which creates a lords and peasants sort of thing. I think the unions naturally try to create negativity in a company.” Which is a really strange...

Ernest Hemingway as a Writing Guru

Ernest Hemingway is one of the most celebrated and influential American writers of the 20th century and he left an indelible mark on literature with his distinctive writing style and adventurous life. His experiences as a journalist, ambulance driver during World War...

What women think about ‘Letters from Ceilia’

I'm told by women who have read it that Letters From Ceilia is the best book they ever read about a young woman's business life and choices. Being both a man and the author, I take that as high praise. I claim that the best thing about reading fiction is that it...