I climbed the cobblestone streets, crested the stairs, and arrived at the tree-lined pathway along the ancient ramparts of Lucca, Italy.
The walkways were busy with tourists, locals, people exercising their dogs, and others picnicking on the grass. Amongst all the noise, activity, and chatter, I noticed a gentleman sitting placidly near the edge of the wall.
He was immersed in a book, oblivious to the hustle and bustle around him.
Elsewhere, people were busy with their smartphones, scrolling, and texting. Despite all the movement and activity around me, I couldn’t help but focus on the guy with the book.
He looked so peaceful and content. I kind of envied him.
As a street photographer, Italy offers endless subject matter. Beautiful landscapes, cathedrals, cobblestone streets, historic towns, artwork, and amazing people.
But I think my favorite photograph whilst exploring Italy was the guy with the book. Because it underscores something I’ve been thinking about lately.
The subject of authenticity.
Missing some key emotional qualities
I follow Corbett Barr’s newsletter “Starting Things,” which is all about entrepreneurship, self-employment, and the creator economy.
Corbett wrote a piece titled, “Artificial Intelligence Wrote This.” He had been researching “the quickly-evolving space of AI-generative writing tools like Copy.ai and Jasper (which just raised money at a $1.5B valuation).”
Corbett added, “The promise of these tools is that they can write content for you, at incredible speed, and the results will be better quality than you can write yourself. Is this true? “
To explore the question, Corbett used the Jasper app to generate an entire blog post, which only took 20 minutes, including the time to learn the app. The resulting blog post was a bit sterile, but the average reader would have no clue it was written by artificial intelligence.
A lot of movies about artificial intelligence envision that AI’s will be very intelligent but missing some key emotional qualities of humans and therefore turn out to be very dangerous. — Ray Kurzweil
Reader comments on Corbett’s AI-generated blog post varied. Some acknowledged the benefits, such as accelerated content creation. Others wondered what it will lead to.
One reader wrote that he uses Jasper to overcome writer’s block, create posts, and maximize efficiency. Others wrote that the fake blog post read like a boring college essay.
I left a comment too:
No soul. Granted, as AI evolves, it will no doubt become indistinguishable from a real person’s writing. That means, in the future, we’ll never know if the content is original or computer generated/assisted. Thus diminishing our humanity a little more. Just like how social media has everyone glued to the digital world instead of the real one.
The line between the real world and the digital world keeps blurring.
People spend increasing amounts of time on their devices, yet a lot of the content online is superficial, narcissistic, inaccurate, biased, and often fake. Yes, if you dig you can find some quality content, but it’s getting more difficult.
As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, will we know if the content we consume is real or fake? As long as it’s entertaining, will it matter? Will we slowly lose our humanity in a sea of digital content pretending to be like us?
If I had a mouth, I might open it to scream
The Wall Street Journal published an essay titled, “Can You Tell Whether This Headline Was Written by a Robot?”
The article shares a quote from SEO expert Adam Chronister:
It is probably impossible that the majority of people who use the web on a day-to-day basis haven’t at some point run into AI-generated content.
In the article, Chronister notes that everyone in his professional search-engine optimization groups uses AI technology to some extent. The AI software is designed to rate high in Google’s search results.
No doubt, there is a place for AI and auto-generated content, especially in advertising and for mundane information. But where does the line between original content and plagiarism cross?
Will trust slowly erode, and readers and consumers figure out that the content they’re consuming is fake, created by AI, not people?
Artificial intelligence can play an important role in research, medicine, and a host of industries looking for improvement and advancement. But when it comes to literature and the arts, will AI make real authors and artists obsolete?
I don’t believe computers, robots, or AI will ever replace the authenticity of humanity. People have an organic, living dimension to them beyond the reach of AI.
After all, we have souls to bare.
The author Neil Shusterman explored this in his book “Thunderhead,” which involves an AI programmed to help humankind.
Here’s a quote from the book:
I can communicate in 6,909 living and dead languages. I can have more than fifteen billion simultaneous conversations, and be fully engaged in every single one. I can be eloquent, and charming, funny, and endearing, speaking the words you most need to hear, at the exact moment you need to hear them.
Yet even so, there are unthinkable moments where I can find no words, in any language, living or dead.
And in those moments, if I had a mouth, I might open it to scream.
I wonder if all this AI stuff will launch us into some dystopian future where we’ll all want to scream.
A room without books is like a body without a soul
This brings me back to Lucca, Italy, and that dude sitting outdoors with a good book.
At least for now, books are predominantly written by real people. And unlike a lot of online content, books from reputable authors and publishers are professionally edited. As a result, the content is often far superior to the ocean of duplicative blog posts and shallow musings found online.
Yes, there are exceptions.
You can find some excellent online writers, documentarians, filmmakers, etc. But most social media seems awash in piffle. Which is why I love books.
Books are my favorite antidote to fake content.
Books are also my favorite antidote to wasting time with social media, doom-scrolling, cat videos on YouTube, and the increasingly unwatchable content and endless commercials on television.
A room without books is like a body without a soul. ― Marcus Tullius Cicero
I’m sort of over the tyranny of screens. Whether my TV, smartphone, tablet, or laptop. I want to join that guy in Lucca and sit outside with a good book.
My favorite pastime: reading a good book
When I pick up a good book, I don’t get a headache or need blue light glasses. I don’t have to recharge my device. I can get lost in the creative world of a real author, who infuses real human emotion into the writing.
The problem is that our embrace of all things digital has deadened our focus and attention. How do we break the allure of TV and social media scrolling?
How do we read more books?
Go into the other room and read a book
A lot of bad habits seem to be the result of laziness and not paying attention.
We complain about never having enough time to read books, yet we find lots of time to watch television and surf the Internet. Because such activities are easy. They appeal to our laziness and desire to be easily entertained.
Yet, we seldom walk away from the TV or computer screen feeling enriched, educated, moved, or inspired. Often, we just feel drained.
Yes, there are exceptions, but generally, I don’t feel like those glamorous “social influencers” on YouTube are improving my life much. Ditto for the cat videos and banal “reality” TV shows and silly singing contests.
In contrast, whenever I spend an evening reading a great book, I feel satisfied. Enriched. Inspired. Educated. Moved.
I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book. ― Groucho Marx
If you want to escape the digital nonsense, AI-generated mundanity, and fake content, read more books written by real authors.
Here are 7 tips for how to read more books and enrich your life:
Rearrange your living space- My wife and I designed our house around reading books. We have reading nooks, bookshelves in many rooms, and even a library in our dining room.
Our dining room library
Always have a book- I always have a book in my vehicle, and I always take a book to appointments. Instead of scrolling Facebook in the doctor’s office, why not read a great book?
I read this 800-page novel in two days because I was on a boat in Scotland with unreliable wi-fi. I wrote about it here.
Replace TV with books- Okay, this may sound extreme, but think about it. Most people make their big, flat screen TV’s the center attraction of their living room or family room.
What if they made these rooms libraries with cozy chairs and reading lights? Doing so is more conducive to reading. Stick the TV off in a side room. Stop making it the priority.
Visit your library or bookstore- Libraries are great because you don’t have to buy books. Read them for free! Or, if you want to invest in good books and support your favorite authors, then visit a bookstore.
Join a book club- There are plenty of book clubs to join. Sure, you can join a book club online and have the books sent to you, but it’s a lot more fun to join a real, live book club. With real, live people. Discussing books, and having real conversations about books over coffee is hard to beat.
Don’t finish every book- I used to think that once I started a book, I had to finish it. Even if the book was terrible. This is nonsense. Read a few chapters, and get a sense of the book. If it’s not for you, donate it or exchange it for a better book.
Learn how to skim- Some books are worth reading but can contain filler or redundant sections not crucial to the main lessons or storyline. For example, I often skim over the “case studies” sections of books and search for the main takeaways.
Learn to read the beginnings and endings of each chapter, section, and paragraph for effective skimming. Train your eyes to find the gist of what you are reading, and don’t get bogged down with endless details and fluff.
Artificial intelligence may be an inevitable part of our future, and no doubt social media and blinking screens are here to stay. But if you want an antidote to fake content and mindless entertainment, reach for a good book.
That guy in Lucca, Italy reading a book seemed far more relaxed than everyone else.
Maybe we should join him?
Before you go
I’m John P. Weiss. I write elegant stories and essays about life, which I often illustrate with my black and white photos and cartoons. Check out my popular Saturday Letters here.
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This post was previously published on Medium.com.
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Photos and cartoons by John P. Weiss
