Tag Archives: AI

When a blog was not a blog yet and more

Posted on October 11, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

In 1996, the Blondin family drove all around the US, blogging about it all before “blog” was even a word. “We were doing something that had no name and no manual, and we were doing it over a dial-up modem … Continue reading →

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The robot replacement theory

Posted on October 8, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

In 2018, comedy writer Connor Relyea wrote a prescient letter to a group he feared might one day threaten his livelihood. Read and recorded at Letters Live at the Royal Festival Hall in London in September 2026. Charisma personified, Laurence … Continue reading →

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“any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”

Posted on October 6, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

After repeating the much bandied about quote from Arthur C. Clark about technology for the third time in less than a week, I decided to actually verify the citation. You probably have heard  that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable … Continue reading →

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AI is turning our books into toilet paper

Posted on September 7, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Like many booksellers, book collectors, and writers, I’m incensed by reports of AI companies destroying irreplaceable books after scanning them to feed the insatiable AI maw. So I was not surprised to discover that some AI firms are selling the … Continue reading →

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Chop. Copy. Shred.

Posted on August 11, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Over the last month or so I have seen quite a few news articles and blog posts about how Anthropic, creator of the large language model (LLM) Claude, set out in 2024 to “destructively scan all the books in the … Continue reading →

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We’ll always have Paris

Posted on May 25, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

I am genuinely ambivalent about AI applications. But occasionally I have run across some AI-generated content that seems to deserve our attention. One of these sources is Majestic Studios, which recreates daily life iconic cities as seen through time. The … Continue reading →

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Are We Having Fun Yet

Posted on May 20, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Birthday colour fun. A creative person in Japan made a tool that generates a unique color associated with your birth date, along with its name and meaning. (You’ll need Google translate for the meaning) The AI Writing Witchhunt Is Pointless. … Continue reading →

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Human Authored

Posted on March 30, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

The Society of Authors (SoA) has launched a “Human Authored” scheme to “help identify works written by humans in a market increasingly flooded by AI-generated books”. Under the initiative, authors will be able to register their titles and download a … Continue reading →

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Don’t Steal This Book

Posted on March 14, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Visitors to the London Book Fair this week may have stumbled across a curious new title that contains no plot, no chapters, and not a single line of prose. Nearly 10,000 authors have joined forces to publish an intentionally blank book … Continue reading →

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Fake It Til You Make It (there)

Posted on June 27, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Discover the world with Fake Trave l. This site lets you bring your travel fantasies to life with AI-generated images. Create convincing travel photos that capture you at your dream destinations in seconds. Fake Travel is your all-in-one platform for creating stunning … Continue reading →

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