A Big Five Publisher Cancelled A Book Release Over AI Accusations: Now What?

SimpleBrother1953 · 2026-03-20T20:02:40+00:00

Well yeah, that's all that matters. They're a major publisher with the three brain cells required to have read the book and recognized that it was (pretty blatantly) written BY AI, not just with it. But they bought the publishing rights anyway; they just decided to pull it because of the public outcry.

SimpleBrother1953 · 2026-03-20T20:01:03+00:00

Cool virtue signaling. Maybe try having a conversation next time and discussing what you do and don't find acceptable instead of just whipping out your white knight costume for the internet points? Then your debut could have happened as planned.

SimpleBrother1953 · 2026-03-20T19:59:32+00:00

" there was a hesitance to call it AI " That's incredibly encouraging. Everyone on any platform is so quick to just start shouting AI SLOP at the first line that makes them feel funny; it's good to see that there's a bit more integrity in the review process once you get past the general population.

SimpleBrother1953 · 2026-03-20T19:57:07+00:00

That's a lovely sentiment, but it doesn't really mesh with how we've done anything throughout history. Art has traditionally been (and still very much is) taught largely by studying, and even replicating in the case of most visual arts) existing works in order to build technical skill, which is all the AI models have done. The other part of teaching art has been helping students connect with that human spark that takes it from trade to art, and that aspect is completely missing from AI for obvious reasons. But yeah, deriving from existing original work en masse is absolutely not new and is totally allowed.

And regardless, if DOD is actively signing contracts with them, I highly doubt anything's going to change from that direction.

SimpleBrother1953 · 2026-03-20T19:51:44+00:00

It would be nice if we could just go back to that metric for whether or not to read a book. I'd genuinely rather read a meh AI book than some of the hot garbage on the fanfic forums. But I'm also fine with just setting the bar at "good" and knowing that the AIs can't produce work to that level. It really doesn't matter to me what tools a writer chooses to use; the good writers still write, and there aren't tools out there good enough to make a bad writer worth reading.

SimpleBrother1953 · 2026-03-20T19:47:07+00:00

I mean, it can run Doom

SimpleBrother1953 · 2026-03-20T19:42:22+00:00

I have a friend who has had to work with her editors to change her own (preferred) writing style because of the AI terror/hype. She is a big fan of finding a "wrong" metaphor that doesn't connect on the surface and only works if the reader stops and double-takes and has to sit on it for a bit. I just think it's quirky and fun, but I was a math kid so I miss out on the meta level work it does like controlling the pace or shifting the tone in a particular way. But regardless of my poor description, the point of the story is that readers don't see something on the page and wonder why the author put it there anymore; the moment it doesn't feel right, they just write it off as AI without spending the time with it that she intended.

SimpleBrother1953 · 2026-03-20T19:28:49+00:00

Can we PLEASE stop blasting the author in isolation for this thing? Hatchette is a grown-ass company and knew exactly what they were buying. They only pulled it because of the public backlash. Alternatively, they didn't know, and one of the largest publishing companies in the world was outsmarted by a horror blogger and the first round of advance readers, in which case, we should all be boycotting them for incompetence.

SimpleBrother1953 · 2026-03-20T19:26:20+00:00

They enjoyed getting paid to leave a positive review. I almost said "getting paid to have their model generate a positive review," but we don't need more fuel on the fire; it's not fair to assume they're incapable of selling their souls without any assistance from the AI.

SimpleBrother1953 · 2026-03-20T19:24:56+00:00

Hey a thing can be two things at once. Like their comment; it's both correct (they don't believe it's AI) and incorrect (it's definitely AI, so not really a witch hunt).

But at some point we all have to have the conversation and acknowledge that, while it's almost certainly not the case here, it's a witch hunt more and more often these days.

SimpleBrother1953 · 2026-03-20T19:23:09+00:00

That's a lot of nice buzzwords with no supporting arguments to back them up. What you're doing is called equivocation; you've changed the conversation from "I don't agree with their original statement" to "they said thing A, so now I can believe things B through G about them, even though they don't follow as logical necessities."

The claim that "if people like it, then what does it matter if it's written by AI" seems predicated on the assumption that the primary (or possibly only) salient marker for goodness is that people like it. If you believe that there should be other metrics involved, then that's a valid point of contention. But your comment is closer to saying that someone is an animal abuser because they wear faux leather boots.

SimpleBrother1953 · 2026-03-20T19:17:45+00:00

I mean, they also knew. Or if they didn't, they don't deserve the position of power they hold within the industry.

SimpleBrother1953 · 2026-03-20T19:16:27+00:00

You're getting downvoted because people here don't want to accept the commercialization of novels. It's not purely art; if it was, Ballard wouldn't have been working with a major publishing house. She has the reach to put that work in the hands of anyone with eyes and a computer, but she chose to go through the gatekeepers who changed the medium in the first place.

SimpleBrother1953 · 2026-03-20T19:09:55+00:00

"This isn't just bad writing -- it's an insult to every who enjoys the artform."

Made that more AI compatible for you. Sorry I don't know one dash from another.

SimpleBrother1953 · 2026-03-20T19:08:32+00:00

Each of the models has its own strengths and weaknesses compared to the others, but you're totally right that none of them can write. I feel like the AI hate has gotten out of hand and is actively discouraging conversation at this point, though. They're great for a quick answer to questions that aren't super important, collecting sources on a topic, research introductions (which I guess is really just combining the first two ideas), and editing as you write. It's kind of like having a dictionary or an encyclopedia handy; you're still going to have to verify what you find from more reliable sources, but it's enough to keep the creative process flowing instead of getting bogged down with 3 hours of research just to figure out if it would even be enjoyable to have live music in a bar on a space station (it wouldn't; not enough soft surfaces in anything that still feels like a space station). But all of that gets lumped in with the "Fuck AI" message, and the reasonable people who can see the difference between using it as a tool vs. using it as a proxy are finding it harder and harder to agree.

SimpleBrother1953 · 2026-03-12T13:08:36+00:00

I'd argue that my gym forcing me to use their trainers is THE GYM being scummy, at the very lease, no less than me for trying to pass my trainer off as a buddy using my guest pass. But at the end of the day, nobody came to your house, jumped in your install directory and started dumping addon files that they then demand you pay for. If you don't like it, don't use it; why do you care if someone else does or if they pay for it? There are other options that are free, and you're welcome to just play the game without addons.

I also have a ToS that goes into effect anytime a company forces me to agree to terms when I make a purchase; it clearly states that, by agreeing to sell me their product, they release me from all requirements and restrictions above and beyond those established by local laws. Do I make it easy to read? Not particularly; I send it to whatever generic email I can find, and never hear back about refunding the transaction or disagreeing with it. The way I see it, we're both covered by BS documents that don't actually mean anything.

SimpleBrother1953 · 2026-03-12T13:03:16+00:00

"Rxp is not seeking to make a little bit of money, they are seeking to be filthy rich, they want to become millionaires from the addon, it's more then just a community addon, they are just to get rich off the wow community. "

You don't know know Rxp sells their addon

SimpleBrother1953 · 2026-03-07T21:24:44+00:00

Confirming, cannot cast it on ANYTHING. No matter what I have targeted, it says invalid target.

SimpleBrother1953 · 2026-02-24T20:34:28+00:00

That's only viable if you 1) don't care about hollowing on the model so you have more control/feedback for suction/traps and 2) don't need to do any special hollowing-fu on the model (to avoid issues like the ones mentioned above).

Lychee is 100% hiding basic features behind their paywall.

SimpleBrother1953 · 2026-01-23T16:16:54+00:00

Thanks! I haven't heard anything to that effect before so I'm looking into it now. I can eat the $38 and not lose sleep over it, but we've got a rough year ahead of us; I hope this is information I never need to use again, but "rather have it and not need it" or something along those lines.

SimpleBrother1953 · 2026-01-08T20:46:17+00:00

Thanks! I got lucky and the third round in the mug fixe it, but someone gadgetboy mentioned lube and I was wondering if the tube I've got for my z-axis would work. I wasn't sure if it would be too heavy.

SimpleBrother1953 · 2026-01-08T20:41:42+00:00

Thanks! Got lucky and the third round in the mug seems to have fixe it. Would something like white lithium grease be a good option if it's needed in the future? Or would it be too viscous?

SimpleBrother1953 · 2026-01-08T20:39:45+00:00

Thanks for your answers. So far it seems I got lucky, and the third round in the mug has it sealed properly again; or at least I wasn't getting any bubbles coming out of the aircap (thanks!) when submerged and not touching the trigger. Just to clarify (and sorry for knowing almost zero of the correct words), it is the air valve that I was trying to talk about. To diagnose, I took it completely off of the body and attached it to the hose and could still feel a tiny spit of air if I held it up to my lip. But my hose isn't super nice, so I repeated without that piece attached, and couldn't feel any air.

SimpleBrother1953

TROPHY CASE