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Last month's newsletter on artificial intelligence (A.I.) brought lots of thoughtful comments. Keep those emails coming!

This month I thought I'd do a quick follow-up.

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More, more I’m still not satisfied!

Having consumed much of the internet, chatbots are now expanding their horizons by digesting print books. Hardcopy books are purchased (either brand new or from used book stores), the spines ripped off, the pages scanned, and then fed into chatbots. Companies have admitted to doing this but claim it's legal under “fair use” clauses. That issue is currently making its way through the courts.

To me, this seems a clear case of copyright infringement (all books contain a line upfront that says something like “copying, except for a brief passage for a review, is strictly forbidden” And, yes, they are being copied—into an information retrieval system). But we’ll see how the courts rule.

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​New Technology Invites New Scams

A new technology emerges and fraudsters flood in. It's been that way through the ages and probably always will be. Think: the 1920’s gold rush, all manner of medical quackery, cryptocurrency schemes. And now, A.I.

It follows the same pattern: fraudsters move in and money-making schemes are hatched, people are fleeced, laws are passed to put the brakes on, commerce takes over and monetizes everything, and, finally, the new technology becomes a legitimate tool.

With A.I., I think we’ve reached Stage Four (commerce takes over). Up until now chatbots have included free options, but―guess what!―companies are about to include ads in their chatbot conversations (tailored "just for you!").

It’s always the same: hook you with a free version, then insert obnoxious ads which you can make go away if you pay a monthly fee. It will work like this: say you ask “Claude” about recommendations for toys for your frisky kitty. Claude makes several suggestions along with strategically placed links taking you to sites that offer kitty toys, perhaps with “Sale. One Day Only!” tags.

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The Latest A. I. Scam (a personal account)

Over the holidays I received not one, not two, but three emails describing in detail the plot and themes of my novel The Astronomer and praising my writing skills to the sky. One email said they wanted to feature the book in their holiday suggested-book list; another email said they wanted to feature the book in their book club. It was all very flattering--and quite fake.

How do these schemes work? Like this: Take your chatbot of choice. Feed it a prompt like: "What are the themes of Brian Biswas's novel The Astronomer"? Look on in amazement as the chatbot spits out a detailed―and probably accurate―summary. Personalize the text by adding words of lavish praise, and then send off an email to the intended victim. If the recipient bites, send a followup email with more of the same, and then another, and eventually ask for a “tip” or “coffee money."

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Which leaves us . . . where?

Be suspicious of every email you receive. If something sounds too good to be true it probably is false. Never trust anything you read on the internet. You’ve heard it all a thousand times before, but it bears repeating.

A.I. is a terrific tool. But use it wisely. Use it judiciously. And always remember: A.I. has one insurmountable problem: it doesn't actually experience anything in the world. All it can do is pile up statistically regurgitated images until it inevitably collapses. And that applies to legitimate use as well as to fraudulent schemes.
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This Month’s quote

“Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is just opinion.”
​―Democritus

460―370 B.C. Democritus was a Greek philosopher, a younger contemporary of Socrates, who claimed that the universe was composed of indivisible particles he termed atoms. He wrote over seventy scientific treatises, none of which have survived.

He was known as the “laughing philosopher.” because of his cheerful personality. He lived to the age of 109. (I wonder if there is a connection?)

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That’s all for now

Thanks for reading and hit me up with questions/comments anytime (simply reply to this email). I’ll do my best to respond quickly. And feel free to forward this email to anyone who you think might enjoy my writing.

You can access my newsletters anytime, as well as a page with links to some of my favorite sites.

Best,
​Brian​
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