Bruce Barcott - AI in Publishing: The Shy Girl Scandal

This month, Hachette Publishing cancelled distribution of their book Shy Girl after it was reported by The New York Times that large portions of the text had been created by AI. When the author originally self-published the novel, it garnered rave reviews with 4,900 ratings on Goodreads and an average of 3.52 stars. Eventually, readers started to notice the tell-tale signs of AI slop: repetitive phrasing, confusing metaphors, and maybe more than a few - em dashes. This poses some difficult questions for publishing. Are authors necessary? Is a 4,900 Goodreads rating good enough for readers? I dive into these troubled waters with my friend Bruce Barcott. Bruce is a journalist, editor, and founder of The AI Humanist.The AI Humanist:  https://ai-humanist.beehiiv.com/linktr.ee: https://linktr.ee/freshfacepods.evison