at the height of his powers, and perhaps even his amphetamine habitFamous science fiction author Philip K. Dick wrote approximately thirty novels over two decades, as well as possibly several hundred short stories. These included such highly influential classics as “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “The Man in the High Castle,” and “A Scanner Darkly” – all the works of a man whose eclectic imagination was matched only by his paranoia, which forced him to constantly examine the nature of reality and our easily manipulated ability to perceive it.
A writer’s prolificacy fills us with awe when their output reshapes entire genres and perhaps even pop culture at large. How can so much come out of one mind? But now, in the age of AI decline, volume and speed only raise doubts, as AI chatbots can help anyone produce a PKD or Stephen King output. Graphomania required writers to write.
Consider novelist Coral Heart. Last February, she started using Anthropic’s cloud AI to start churning out romance novels, and became an invisible juggler of the dirty world, according to a new interview with the new York Times.
With 21 different aliases, Hart says she produced more than 200 romance novels last year and self-published them on Amazon, which has been steeped in AI slop for years now. None were huge hits in their own right NYTBut overall they sold about 50,000 copies, which was in the six figures. While being interviewed on Zoom, he finished a book in just 45 minutes. Your average human writer doesn’t stand a chance, she says.
“If I can produce a book in a day, and you need six months to write a book, who will win the race?” Hart told NYT.
Hart, who was already an experienced dirty writer before turning to AI, also started a business teaching other writers how to write novels with the technology. Called “Plot Prose”, the book claims to have taught more than 1,600 people, including writers who were publicly against using the technique.
A large component of his lessons involve avoiding the guardrails of various chatbots, which makes him resistant to writing anything risky. She also focuses on trying to bring the bots’ clumsy prose to life. He recommended coming up with an “ick list” of words to tell the AI to avoid that it would otherwise overuse. He also advised giving the AI a comprehensive list of sexual obsessions, ranging from general to dirty talk, to highly specific, like, and we quote NYT, “Using the deceased spouse’s old silk garment as a restraint during bondage.” “Be shameless,” was Hart’s advice.
You may not have a high opinion of romance paperbacks, but there is undoubtedly an art to writing them, especially in the incredible quantities required to satisfy the appetite of smut readers. And like any other genre, many experienced writers are worried that they are being drowned out by AI-reliant newcomers. Best-selling romance novelist Mary Force, who was alarmed to learn that her novels were used to train the cloud without permission, said, “This disrupts the publishing ecosystem we all rely on to make our living.” NYT. “This makes it difficult to find new writers, because the swamp is full of filth.”
Hart has been described in reporting as an “evangelist” for AI. Still, he is unwilling to risk his professional reputation for the sake of technology. “Heart” is a pseudonym she uses to teach her AI courses, while she uses her real name for other publishing and coaching work. Her books are published under other pseudonyms, as she does not want to disclose her AI use due to stigma. Apparently his advice to “be shameless” only applies insofar as it exposes you to being judged by your peers.
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