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Marjane Satrapi
Marjane Satrapi, the brave and talented creator of the wonderful and honest graphic novel Persepolis, has died. Her magnum opus is an autobiography, telling of her young years growing up during the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the Iran-Iraq war of 1980, and then moving to Austria, for safety and to study. But Vienna isn't the safe space her family was hoping for, she's having a difficult time, and returns to Iran. The difference between the two worlds really show. Back home, she can't find her place either.
It's not an easy book to read, it is nuanced, it feels sincere, and it shines a very human light on what the revolution meant, on what emigration can be like.
It was a popular graphic novel, pushing what was usually done with the medium. Satrapi was one of the first women to find success with graphic novels.
According to her family, Satrapi died at the age of 56 of a broken heart, following her husband's death last year.
I very much recommend reading the book. It is not an easy story, but it is an important one.
The Future of Truth
What a mind boggling and raw article by Wired: Steve Rosenbaum has a book out, "The Future of Truth", on the effect of AI chatbots on the understanding of truth. Rosenbaum has a master's degree in "truth" from New York University (what does that even mean?) and has decades of experience in this field: creating news programs for MTV and reporting on the aftermath of 9/11 in New York and much more.
But the New York Times reported that Rosenbaum's book is heavily relying on AI, for example containing made up quotes. Wired had previously published an excerpt from the book, but given its strict no AI policy for content and the reporting by the Times, it pulled the excerpt.
Instead, Wired interviewed Rosenbaum. Here's one quote:
"I do not understand why it's my job as an author to play whack-a-mole with a multibillion-dollar company who puts hallucinations into their feed as a business practice”
Because it's your book! It's your name on the cover. This text is your responsibility.
And he's not alone:
“I talked to another author this morning who's literally got a book coming out going to the publisher in a month, and she's fucking terrified.” I asked if that was because she used AI in the process of writing the book. “Of course"
There's a silver lining:
"I asked him whether he would rather stop writing than stop using AI in his writing process. “Yeah,” he answered."
That's a good idea. I sure have little interest to read anything from a person with this attitude.
