Matthew Clapham
1 min readDec 11, 2024

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If one is capable of writing high-quality prose in a distinctively personal voice, why would one wish to outsource that function to an AI application? I simply don't understand the motivation. Just to 'generate content'? Why?

And which of those distinctive voices - drawing on their personal and unique life experiences - would be 'replaced' or have their 'success' undermined by such bespoke, automated writing?

Will it not be the case that human-generated crap (vapid, manufactured pop music, valueless drama series and movies, churnalism) will be replaced quite seamlessly with machine-generated crap, while authorial signature works will largely retain their same value and appeal? Provided, that is, they can still be heard or found amid the increasing volume of that machine-generated crap. But that's a factor of quantity, rather than quality.

Which is, incidentally, the reason why Medium is currently floundering under the deluge. And doing such a poor job of addressing it as to give rise to (perhaps unfounded but inevitable) suspicions that it actually isn't even trying, because so long as the AI punters pay their $5 they are welcome to a seat at the craps table to see if they can dupe enough people into generating them >$5.01 of earnings.

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Matthew Clapham
Matthew Clapham

Written by Matthew Clapham

Professional translator by day. Writer of silly and serious stuff by night. Also by day, when I get fed up of tedious translations. Founder of Iberospherical.

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