Austenesque Lovers TBR Pile Challenge 2024 discussion

Recently I have been wondering about how many blurbs or books have been written by AI. A lot of things just sound like the same thing all over again... I know JAFF is all about writing the same thing all over again but many authors have a distinctive voice but there are some books and some blurbs that sound exactly like some other books and other blurbs that somebody else wrote. Like, the same keywords all over again. The characters navigate paths and challenges, find themselves drawn to quick wit and enigmatic characters, and defy societal expectations over and over and over again. And just about one paragraph in five goes like this, "As something else happened, they did this."

Here is a blurb that the Bing AI Copilot wrote for an imaginary book for me:

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"Certainly! Here’s a blurb for a delightful Pride and Prejudice variation where Mr. Darcy manages to keep his foot out of his mouth at the Meryton assembly:

Title: “Entangled Hearts”

In a world where first impressions can change destinies, Fitzwilliam Darcy attends the Meryton assembly with a newfound determination. Instead of delivering the infamous insult to Elizabeth Bennet, he chooses a different path.

As the evening unfolds, Darcy finds himself drawn to Elizabeth’s wit and intelligence. Their conversation in the moonlit maze at Netherfield sparks an unexpected connection—one that defies societal norms and challenges their preconceptions.

But with Mr. Collins’s proposal hanging in the air and Darcy’s departure delayed, the stakes are higher than ever. Can Darcy navigate this tangled web of emotions and win Elizabeth’s heart without the shadow of his initial blunder?

Join Darcy and Elizabeth on a journey of self-discovery, where love blooms amidst the hedges and secrets unravel in the moon’s soft glow.

“Entangled Hearts” weaves a fresh thread into the beloved tapestry of Jane Austen’s classic, inviting readers to explore a world where pride and prejudice yield to vulnerability and hope. Will Darcy’s newfound approach lead to a different outcome—one where love triumphs over misunderstanding?"
**
I asked the AI to change it so it would sound less like Darcy had some weird notion that he was supposed to insult Elizabeth at the assembly and had determined not to.
This is the result:
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" Certainly! Let’s weave a more serendipitous tale where Mr. Darcy stumbles upon a different path at the Meryton assembly:

Title: “Moonlit Reversals”

In the candlelit ballroom of Meryton, Fitzwilliam Darcy’s gaze alights upon a pair of sparkling eyes. Elizabeth Bennet, with her spirited laughter and quick wit, captures his attention. But this time, fate intervenes.

As the orchestra plays, Darcy’s footsteps lead him toward Elizabeth, not away. Their conversation is unscripted, their banter free from the usual barbs. Beneath the moon’s soft glow, they share secrets—the kind that bind hearts.

No insult mars their encounter. Instead, Darcy finds himself enchanted by Elizabeth’s observations on life, her laughter echoing through the garden. The world shifts, and he wonders if destiny has rewritten its course.

But society’s expectations remain unyielding. Mr. Collins hovers, and Darcy’s departure looms. Can he navigate this unexpected connection without revealing his true feelings?

Join Darcy and Elizabeth as they dance through moonlit corridors, where pride unravels and prejudice fades. In “Moonlit Reversals,” love blooms when least expected.

“Moonlit Reversals” invites readers to explore a universe where chance alters destinies, and hearts entwine without the weight of initial judgments. Will Darcy’s newfound path lead to love or unravel the delicate threads of possibility?

Stay tuned for this enchanting variation, where the stars themselves conspire to change the course of love."

**

That is a long winded way of saying that I have become a compulsive free sample reader of late because a lot of the blurbs trigger this feeling of sameness and I need to see if the story is more of the same.

Interesting experiment, Katja! Wouldn’t it be nice if we all just said no to using generative AI?

I hope that authors would at least READ what the AI wrote and see if it made any sense before selling it.

A low bar, you would think.

Hah! Thanks for sharing that experiment with us, Katja. Those AI blurbs have some polished lines in them, for sure. Sounds like you find them a little too polished, as if they're describing the notion of a novel rather than an actual novel? Makes me think of those Hollywood trailers with that deep-voiced man announcing, "In a world where...", with dramatic music in the background!

If you find these kinds of blurbs unsettling, then perhaps there's still a little hope for those of us who are imperfect human writers! :)

Then again, I'm uncomfortably aware that authors writing original works -- not based on another author's work -- might see fanfiction authors as purely derivative, and traditionally-published authors might claim that self-published authors have flooded the market in the same way AI is now flooding our market! So, I don't want to claim any moral high ground here. I only wish to keep writing -- slowly, so slowly -- with the hope that someone will still want to read the book when I finish it! :)

Well but I think a lot of the original works authors also write good old familiar tropes... If you're writing a billionaire romance, or a gothic vampire tale, or a serial killer thriller, a fantasy saga about an intrepid band of travellers trying to save the world from monsters, or a dysfunctional-family-struggles-through-poverty-loss-abuse-and-other-terrible-things-and-the-main-character-becomes-a better-person-but-the-dog-dies-in-the end, it's probably not as unique as you'd like to think.

Oh yes, picture Morgan Freeman with a British accent narrating this trailer Again, courtesy of Bing.
Cue chilling soundtrack:

***
“Dangerous Roads of Pemberley”

Sparks fly when Miss Elizabeth Bennet takes work as a governess at Pemberley. But this is no ordinary estate. Dark secrets lurk in its shadowed corridors, and danger looms on the country roads.

When a notorious gang of highwaymen begins terrorizing the area, Elizabeth finds herself unexpectedly partnered with the enigmatic Mr. Darcy. Their mission: to thwart the ruthless bandits and protect the innocent travelers.

As they ride through moonlit nights, their initial animosity gives way to reluctant admiration. Darcy’s sharp wit and Elizabeth’s resourcefulness make them an unlikely but formidable team. But can they unravel the highwaymen’s plot before it’s too late? And will their shared adventure lead to something deeper—a love that defies societal norms and blossoms amidst danger?

In this gripping variation, Elizabeth and Darcy must navigate treacherous roads, hidden identities, and their own pride and prejudices. Will deceptions, highwaymen, and a rambunctious eleven-year-old girl bring them together or tear them apart?

Get ready for a thrilling ride through the English countryside, where love and danger collide in unexpected ways!"

***

Mind you, Bing pretty much stole this from Violet King's book.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

the blurb of which says, "Sparks fly when Miss Elizabeth Bennet takes work as a governess at Pemberley.Will deceptions, highwaymen, and a rambunctious eleven-year-old girl bring Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy together or tear them apart?"

Christina wrote: “I'm uncomfortably aware that authors writing original works -- not based on another author's work -- might see fanfiction authors as purely derivative, and traditionally-published authors might claim that self-published authors have flooded the market in the same way AI is now flooding our market!”

Hah, Shakespeare, James Joyce, and many others would stand beside you in your resistance to that notion. Literature has a long history of taking familiar stories and adapting them—as commentary on the original work, as translation of the themes into a fresh context, and so on. You go on adapting without looking over your shoulder!

here's an Austen essay that AI wrote
https://www.classace.io/answers/write...

With the JAFF fanbase being such a loyal one, I see little reason for AI help in producing books.
There are a number of published authors whose writing style always has me scratching my head, but if I like the premise, I will still read it, even if its a fast skim.

Published AI in my opinion is a scam and thievery. They steal our brain energy.

Is there a petition to sign for Amazon to label the AI produced books?

I wonder, Sam if Amazon would even know it was an AI-produced book. Unless the author admits to that being the case, how would Amazon know? I am not familiar with the process of how a manuscript is presented to Amazon for publishing.

Interesting points.
Still, it is all very vexing!

I agree with you. It is so unfair to authors who put their blood, sweat, and tears into their work only to have a machine take over their genre. It is the Luddites all over again. Only, there are no frames to break.

Maybe there's an AI algorithm that could tell which books are AI :)

you know those plagiarism analyzers? some such system might weed out the bits of AI that were lifted straight from somewhere online. And I read about a program that analyzed the frequency of words and idioms and grammar constructs and whatnot, and figured out the probability that a given text was written by human author X. You might be able to get some sort of guesstimate that way? Of course, many books might be a bit of both.

There is an acknowledged AI written book, Jane Austen's Novels: As Written by A.I.. I've never read it but even the author says it is awful.

@12 -- J.W., you've raised interesting points! One issue I have with AI is not that machines are taking over; it's that people are using AI to put out books so quickly that it may be more difficult for those people not using AI are going to find it more difficult to make a living from their work.

So, your Luddite metaphor is a really good one because, then and now, it's not the machines that actually benefit; it's the people who control the technology that benefit. This is why some authors have argued they must use AI. They believe they have to get on board -- or they'll lose their work.

That being said, I don't use AI and wouldn't want to use it. For me, the whole point of writing is, you know, the writing. :) It's a struggle, and I take forever, and I make a lot of mistakes, but that's how I learn and it's that learning and struggle that lead to the joy for me.

But I also don't have to provide for my family with income from writing. (Thank goodness, or we'd starve!) So, I can wax poetic about joy and struggle all I like; it's really just me saying I have a luxury others don't have.

This all must be much more difficult for authors who are trying to make a living wage from their writing.

@13 -- Katja, I believe there are many AI detectors out there, though I've read mixed reviews of them. (Teachers are really interested in AI detection!)

Here's a thought question I ask myself sometimes: what would I feel if I discovered that Jane Austen's works were actually written by AI (a nod to @14 Linda's find on Goodreads)? Let's say some time traveler used AI to "write" the six novels and then went back to Regency England and passed them off as books written by this woman called Jane Austen.

Would my feelings about the books change?

I have my own answer...but I'm curious: what do you all think? Would you stop loving the books? Why or why not?

Christina, not sure I can answer that question.

However, at this point it's moot, since currently there is no humanity in AI writing. The humanness is what Jane Austen's books were all about, impo.

Not sure where I remember this quote from but "there is no art in the craft"? Not sure my remembrance is accurate.
But there's no art or creativity in AI. Which is one of the things that bugs me the most.

Where would we be without Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Shakespeare, Picasso, Wordsworth; to name a small handful from the multitudes.

Using AI in a craft is another way of stopping the younger generation from developing fundamental aspects of their brains. As a scifi fan, I can't help but envision a future full of shrunken headed humans as they slowly use less and less brain matter to live...

Sam wrote: "As a scifi fan, I can't help but envision a future full of shrunken headed humans as they slowly use less and less brain matter to live..."

This made me think of Wall-E. All the people had been catered to by the computers and robots for so long, they even forgot how to walk.

@17: Linda: I love that movie. I loved the fact that Wall-E exhibited human qualities: compassion, curiosity, and even love. He was so cute. The extra scene where the little maintenance robot was sent to repair the broken lite was a scream.

@16: Sam: I agree. At this early stage, AI can only regurgitate what has already been written. As it learns, will it be able to create? Writing is a creative expression of what an author puts on paper or types on their computer. There is heart and soul there which AI does not have. Nor does it understand nuance, snark, idioms, humor, or my reviews. That still stings to this day.

I am not expressing myself well but I hope my thoughts are apparent. See? AI didn't write this.

What bothers me are the thieves who, in the past, stole works and published them under fake names. They can now employ AI to spit out books at an alarming rate, thus, flooding the market. It is still taking someone's work and rearranging it for their nefarious purpose. It will be harder to govern and spot.

I want to encourage and support new authors but I am leary of debut works where I have no idea who the author is. Especially where there isn't any author history or profile posted on Amazon.

Thanks Katja, very interesting topic. And comments.
I wouldn’t mind reading a blurb or a book written by AI as long as it’s good, ie interesting creative surprising and original, and with a unique voice. Unfortunately (or fortunately) it seems AI is not capable of that. It’s not able to create something unique and never written before. Sometimes, little « flaws » are precisely what makes an author or a book unique and thus loved.

@15 I absolutely agree with you Christina. Books in this (and other) genres are being churned out at an obscene speed and they are very very bad on the whole. I am saddened by the path many writers in the JAFF genre have taken. A lot of the work is poor in writing or in plot or usually both. But then these same books get star ratings in excess of anything Austen herself produced so .....

But thankfully there are writers who are still producing quality work in this field - take the latest by Michelle Ray, the well crafted, well finished, authentic By Duty Bound: A Variation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. This is one of those which reminds me there is still quality writing in the field. I just have to work a lot harder to find it.

I've enjoyed reading all of these thoughts on AI and fiction!

What seems to make AI such a fraught topic is that it touches on a number of existential questions: what does it mean to be human? What is our purpose on this earth? What is creativity? How do we encourage creativity, and what happens when we commodify or try to sell creative works?

The irony of large language models (Chat GPT, etc) is that they are "trained" on a wide body of human output. So, by some definition, their output could be seen as the ultimate embodiment of human creation, for there's no way a single human could ever read all that Chat GPT has "read."

But then, maybe that's the catch: when we humans read, we don't just take in the words; we actually create new meaning. Every time I read a book, I'm actually "reading" something slightly different than you, even if you read the exact same book.

It's not just that I may see something different in the text than you; it's that I actually create new meaning because of my unique blend of experiences, just as you create new meaning based on your particular experiences.

Even authors can't be the final arbiter of their own work because once they've sent their works into the world, each reader will create a slightly new version of that book with each reading of that book. (At least, this is how I like to see it; you may think I'm being ridiculous! Also, I should acknowledge Toni Morrison's essay "Invisible Ink" here, as it has influenced how I think about this topic.)

So, can AI "read" as we "read"? Right now, it seems not quite. Large language models can take in ideas, recombine and reconstitute, but because they lack experience outside of that input/output process, there seems to be something essential missing from the creative process. (Perhaps? I don't know for sure.)

As to my own thought question, What if I discovered Austen were AI -- well, I'd be utterly devastated, of course! Part of the meaning I take from Austen is the belief that she understood something essential about being human, though she lived in a different time and place.

So, if I discovered those words didn't come from a human -- or even if I discovered they didn't come from the human named Jane Austen but instead from a man living in 21st century America, say -- I'd have to revise my understanding of the texts, even though the words themselves would be exactly the same.

That suggests to me that my love of Austen -- or any work -- doesn't just come from some "objective" notion of what's good or bad, skillful or poorly executed writing. My love of Austen comes from the intersection between the texts she wrote, the context in which she wrote them, the context in which I read them, and my own beliefs and experiences.

Sam, I acknowledge that such a thought experiment is moot because, well, Austen was in fact human and is the author of the words attributed to her. :)

But my point is this: what if we discover that something we love wasn't created the way we thought it was? Does that change the nature of the work, even though objectively the work itself hasn't changed?

@17 -- J.W., you're such an amazing source of support to authors. Readers like you and everyone else here are awesome.

@18 -- Faustine, I'm with you on the importance of "little flaws" and how they are sometimes the key to making a work even more endearing.

@19 -- Craftyhj, so glad Michelle Ray's book resonated with you! Looks intriguing and will have to add it to my list!

Christina wrote: "I've enjoyed reading all of these thoughts on AI and fiction!

It's not just that I may see something different in the text than you; it's that I actually create new meaning because of my unique blend of experiences, just as you create new meaning based on your particular experiences."

Exactly! Even when I reread a book, I will have a different experience because I am in a different place in my life than when I read it the first time.

What AI misses is the 'soul' that a human writer, no matter how good or bad, infuses into their work.

Christina wrote:..."

But then, maybe that's the catch: when we humans read, we don't just take in the words; we actually create new meaning. Every time I read a book, I'm actually "reading" something slightly different than you, even if you read the exact same book.

Yes! I am constantly amazed how we all read the same books, but our takeaways can be so different!
Reading reviews at times are a window into people's personal lives and emotions. What triggers one of us won't affect another and vis-a-versa. I find it amazing.

That's so true Sam. I find I have those fellow readers/reviewers who seem to like what I do in a book and then suddenly there is a complete mismatch on a review. Fascinating!

That is what makes this group so much fun. We will agree on a book and then suddenly one star here and five there. What happened? Hormones, a bad day at work, indigestion, bipolar, headaches, fighting with the kids or hubby, work stress, who knows.

Our levels of stress and tolerance are also different. What one can tolerate or accept, another can't swallow. What I find funny, may horrify another. We have all agreed to disagree and remain friends. Again, that is what is so fabulous about this group. I have had so much fun seeing the differences in our opinions on a story or book. I also see new viewpoints of a story. I may even change my mind or see it in a new light. Fantastic.

Christina wrote: "I've enjoyed reading all of these thoughts on AI and fiction!

What seems to make AI such a fraught topic is that it touches on a number of existential questions: what does it mean to be human? Wh..."

This is such a thoughtful and insightful commentary by the group. The discussion would be a valuable reference piece for anyone teaching English literature. If I weren't retired, I'd definitely use it to illustrate the function and value of novels.

A word of warning to my fellow audiobook fans.

I’ve just seen a post in the Pride and Prejudice Variations Audiobook Group on Facebook. It was by Jeanna Ellsworth to say that she’s publishing her books on Audible using AI narration and that therefore they’re going to be free if you have any sort of membership or subscription. The only one with a living, breathing human performance is Pride and Persistence. The other eight (on Audible.com, thankfully not yet on Audible UK) are all by the phantom “Virtual Voice”.

The admins for the group have taken the post down extremely quickly as the group, quite rightly, does NOT support authors who use AI narration.