Get curated insights in your inbox every week — free, unsubscribe anytime.
As AI-generated images and AI-written novels and poems spread rapidly online, debate rages over whether they truly qualify as "art." This piece lays out the key criterion behind that debate and offers a practical way to judge the AI-made work in front of you today.
Where human writing and machine writing part ways
Two pieces of writing can carry identical information, yet one reads as unmistakably human while the other feels subtly off. The gap comes down to eight recognizable AI-writing patterns — and closing it is mostly a matter of a few deliberate habits.
Judgment — and the responsibility that comes with it — still belongs to people
In January 2023, CNET quietly published 77 AI-generated articles, and the errors and plagiarism surfaced only months later. As the cost of generating text falls toward zero, the cost of judging it rises — and that judgment is precisely what editors are for.
What Asking AI Directly Taught Me
While using Claude AI's Max plan to look into claims labeled "conspiracy theories" around current political issues, one question kept nagging at me: is AI ultimately a tool for humans to control other humans, or one that helps protect individual freedom? Here's the surprisingly candid answer Claude gave when I asked it directly.
A publishing editor's perspective on where knowledge content is headed
As generative AI makes it possible to produce any piece of writing instantly, a Korean publishing editor argues that authors are no longer simply writers — they are becoming the final authority who verifies, curates, and lends credibility to AI-assisted content.
How to find work that actually fits your temperament
When people ask what I do, I tell them I work in publishing — and the inevitable follow-up is whether it's tough. My answer has less to do with the industry's reputation than with whether the work genuinely fits who you are.
A guide to making AI-assisted prose read human again
AI-generated text can be grammatically flawless and still feel unmistakably mechanical — the telltale sign of stylistic tics inherited from English-trained models. Here's how to spot those patterns and edit them back into natural, human-sounding prose.
We need a new definition of what it means to be an author
As AI becomes a primary tool for content creation, it's reshaping publishing from the ground up — and forcing a rethink of what authorship even means as copyright lines blur.
The Shift from Technological Moats to User Moats
For decades, technology dictated need — once built, software became its own moat because development was too costly to challenge, leaving users with no real choice. AI is now flipping that logic, letting companies build the specific tools they actually need instead of conforming to standardized platforms.
The limits of traditional publishing, and where content is headed
A publisher reflects on whether the books coming out of their house truly hold value, and argues that the industry's future may not include publishers or bookstores at all — just authors and readers meeting directly around knowledge.
