James Daunt says booksellers instinctively have "disdain" for AI but it could be sold if clearly labelled.

The headline here is a bit misleading, what he actually said was:

"Who’s to know? [Technology firms] are spending trillions and trillions on AI and maybe it’s going to produce the next War and Peace.

"And if people want to read that book, AI-generated or not, we will be selling it - as long as it doesn’t pretend to [be] something that it isn’t.

“We as booksellers would certainly naturally and instinctively disdain it,” Daunt said.

Readers value a connection with the author “that does require a real person”, he added. Any AI-generated book would always be clearly labelled as such.

My revised headline is:

Waterstones boss would rather not sell books generated by AI, but might if they are correctly labelled.

  • Tenebris Nox@feddit.ukEnglish
    4·
    3 days ago

    It’ll be ok as the way things are going, the readers will be AIs who will summarise and review books for Youtube channels watched by AIs who go on to write books for… dead culture. It’s ok because the masses will be watching Strictly Come Hunger Games Dancing.