CategoryArts & Culture
Study: Writing by Hand is Good for the Brain. What Does that Say About ChatGPT?
Nothing can replace pen and paperIt might be time to get the pens and notebooks back out and shut off the keyboard for a while. Just pretend you’re back in the first grade and don’t have a minicomputer in your back pocket. Writing by hand can help stimulate the whole brain and stave off cognitive decline, according to a study by Van der Weel and Van der Meer (2024), as reported by Pamela B. Rutledge in Psychology Today. Using a more personal note, she writes, I’ve never been one to keep a journal, but I now wonder if the exclusive use of computers and the lack of handwriting practice is doing my brain a disservice by decreasing the activity of cortico-subcortical components of the writing Read More ›
We Shouldn’t Let AI Steal Art and Entertainment
This is an opportunity for artists and writers to create excellent work that champions the uniqueness of human creativityIt’s no secret that new forms of AI threaten the integrity of the arts and entertainment industry. Actors might be deep faked. Artists’ original work can be scraped by word prompts, and writers could be “replaced” by large language models that only seem to be getting more adept at copycatting human language. One of the reasons it’s tempting for Hollywood producers to use AI seems to go beyond simply cutting costs. It makes sense massive companies want to capitalize on a tool that will get them unpaid labor. But in a way, entertainment, including books and movies, have become apportioned to popular demand. Which means they tend to be more formulaic and geared towards marketability instead of genuine quality. I Read More ›
“I’m Not There Yet”
Scott Galloway opens up about the writing processScott Galloway is one of the most successful writers on the planet, at least by monetary metrics. He’s also a remarkably talented presenter and appears consistently on top channels to talk about business, masculinity, finance, and relationships. In a new interview with David Perell, who founded the writing organization “Write of Passage,” Galloway said that he thinks he’s a “good writer” but not a “great” one yet. It might surprise us given that Galloway is around sixty and is a successful author, but he went on to explain how practice is key when reaching any type of mastery of a skill. Writing is no different. He described his recent encounter with a Stephen King novel, admiring the vividness of the Read More ›
Famous Actress Wonders About AI, TV Culture, and Humanity
AI isn't like the printing press, Rashida Jones laments
Here Are Some Good Pieces to Read Over the Long Weekend
Reflections on love and freedom from two gifted writersHappy Independence Day to all the American readers, which, presumably, is most of you! Condolences and best wishes to our British friends as they deal with a large-scale election tomorrow. Many people will be enjoying a particularly long weekend full of hot dogs, fireworks, and summer heat, but one can always use the spare time to catch up on some reading. Here are just a couple of links that I’ve found worthwhile over the last couple days. The first comes from novelist Tara Isabella Burton, who writes a candid piece on overcoming smartphone addiction in Plough. Like many of us, Burton both wrestles with spending too much time on screens but has also made resolutions to overcome her dependency again Read More ›
A Quiet Place: Two Moments That Stick Out
Characters in the dystopian thriller find solace in the transcendent
Coldplay, Pop Music, and AI Mimicry
Musicians are being pressured into the pop music maniaColdplay is my favorite band. Some make fun of me for this, but their discography, ranging from the raw immediacy of Rush of Blood to the Head (2002) to the synthetic coldness of Ghost Stories (2014) is too wide ranging, beautifully rendered, and personally resonant for me to dismiss. That said, something’s happened to the music industry that has even alt-rockers in its grip, including Coldplay. The super-band’s latest single, “feelslikeimfallinginlove,” is a far cry from their roots. While some bands maturate with age, Coldplay has simplified and infantilized; frontman Chris Martin was writing much more interesting, compelling lyrics at age twenty-five than forty-five. The new single is a simple pop song, youthful, exuberant, without much musical complexity or the Read More ›
Inside Out 2: Anxiety Takes Over
New animated film explores the internal anxieties of a teenage girl
Kingsnorth: How to Stay Sane in the Deepfake World
A lesson for modern people from the desert monks of antiquity
George Strait Breaks Concert Record
We still flock to what's good and real“People have a hunger for live music made by real people — and it’s more than Taylor Swift,” tweeted music and culture critic Ted Gioia in response to the 110,000 souls who showed up for country music George Strait’s Saturday concert in College Station, Texas. Strait’s concert officially broke the record for total attendees at a U.S. concert, which is stunning, considering the phenomenon of Swift’s “Eras Tour” that has captured audiences around the globe and even perked up the U.S. economy. Gioia points out that, even (and perhaps especially) in our society in which listening to music seems to have become an individual, digitalized experience, filled with its fair share of computer-generated beats and bops, it’s obvious that people Read More ›
Paleoartists — Artists for Dinosaurs — Confront Generative AI
Generative AI cannot yet combine science-level accuracy and sensitivity to artistic issues but it is starting to have an impact anyway.
How Do Writers Get Paid in an Age When Chatbots “Write” Things?
Are lawsuits against Big Tech really the answer? Much of the territory is uncharted
This Darwin Quote Eerily Describes AI
Does a materialistic worldview lead us believe humans are simply advanced computing systems?I’ve been reading the modern classic The Brothers K by American writer David James Duncan. Not to be confused with The Brothers Karamazov, this novel creatively riffs off of Dostoevsky’s iconic novel while retaining its own unique flavor. Set in Washington state during the crazy 1960s, The Brothers K is about the Chances, a family with a father beaten down after a failed shot at pro baseball, and the four brothers who each respond differently to the rapidly changing culture of the United States. The Chances’ grandmother, who they affectionately call “Grandawma,” is a staunch Darwinist, while Mrs. Chance is a devout Seventh Day Adventist. The Chance children have to wade through the opposing worldviews they’re brought up in, and Read More ›
Generative AI Is Creating a Copyright Crisis for Artists
How does an artist assert copyright when her image was only one of many used to create a new image? How does she make a living if she can’t?
Arthur Brooks and C.S. Lewis on the Cure for Loneliness and Inner Ring Syndrome
The modern world is a lonely place. So what are you going to do about it?Arthur Brooks, former president of the American Enterprise Institute, writes a column at The Atlantic on the vast topic of happiness. His remarks are consistently thoughtful, encouraging, and oftentimes convicting, particularly with his latest post, which addresses loneliness. Over half of Americans think no one knows them very well, Brooks says in his essay. Men in America are very unlikely to develop new friendships after age thirty. Marriage and birth rates are falling, and in general, our modern world simply isn’t well suited for deep and abiding friendships. Brooks refers to this as the “Poe syndrome.” The 19th century poet Edgar Allen Poe was a recluse, and preferred to spend his days alone and uninterrupted. The introverts in the room Read More ›
Substack: A Return to the Golden Era of Blogging
The writing platform is friendly toward free speech. So why doesn't Elon Musk like it?
Is the New Synthesia Piano Program a Crutch—or a Skateboard?
The Synthesia program is a piano roll in digital form. But instead of a player piano, there is a human piano player, playing the part of the player piano's trackerbar.
Hurry Up, Let Me Evolve Already
A review of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes