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What.
A. Week. Full of things both dumb and dumbfounding.
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DUMB: A new MIT study says ChatGPT is making us stupider.
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A bunch of you sent that story to me—because of course you did.
I'm not anti-AI; but I do believe we need to use it thoughtfully. So any research that shows how AI's productivity gains come at a cost makes my ears perk up like a spaniel hearing the treat jar.
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The study is small and preliminary and a bit flawed. But it's sparking a conversation: Are we trading long-term thinking for short-term speed?
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And shouldn't we be more intentional about how (and
when) we use AI—instead of sprinting toward it like a biscuit-crazed spaniel?
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DUMBFOUNDING: A few days later, a US judge ruled that Anthropic's use of books to
train its AI system Claude did not violate copyright law, finding it qualified as "fair use." My genius friend and attorney Ruth Carter broke it down for me. (Shortly after, Meta won a similar case.)
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The judge in the Anthropic case likened the AI's training process to an aspiring writer's learning from others' work to create something new,
not to copy or replace it—which, uh, okay.
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I get how the judge is using analogy to explain a ruling. But I bristle at the comparison of a robot's cool output to an aspiring writer's bloody, sweat-stained
work.
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SIR. Must we?
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Generative AI can be helpful and useful and fun.Â
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But some days, it's hard not to be dumbfounded about what comes next—especially for artists and creatives.
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At least the judge agreed that stealing the books wasn't cool. (We talked about the piracy issue here.)
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* * *
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I'm still processing all this. But for now, I have a suggestion:Â
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Step away from the Internet and go read a book.
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Read something new. Or new to you. Read fiction, nonfiction, essays, biography. Read on paper or Kindle. Something
serious and important. Or light and fluffy. Your choice.Â
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I don't know how the AI story ends. But if there's an antidote to the shortcuts and short-termism the world is urging you to take... I'm
betting on the slowest, smartest act of resistance left: reading a book.Â
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No algorithm stands a chance of outwitting a well-read, well-fed mind.
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Or out-writing one. The second edition of Everybody Writes is on sale this week.Â
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Here's my challenge to you:
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📚 30 minutes a day.
📚 For the next 8 weeks.
📚 Just read.
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Deal?
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Here's what's on my list this summer.Â
These are all fiction as well as memoir/biography. Should I also recommend some business-related books in a future letter? Hit reply and let me know.
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I'm including Bookshop.org links because Amazon is convenient as heck but local bookstores need you more.
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Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
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