{"id":4674,"date":"2026-04-01T14:29:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T21:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/?p=4674"},"modified":"2026-04-01T14:29:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T21:29:16","slug":"ai-tricks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2026\/04\/ai-tricks\/","title":{"rendered":"AI tricks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[A human named David Szalay].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Bloom posted this note<\/a> on Substack:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I\u2019ve always thought that I would never want to read an AI-written novel, no matter how objectively well-written it is. But I\u2019m starting to question this. I\u2019m on a real David Szalay kick these days; last night, I finished \u201cLondon and the South-East\u201d, which was terrific, and I\u2019m looking forward to starting his \u201cSpring\u201d later tonight. But I wondered: Suppose I discovered that there is no David Szalay, just a David-Szalay-GPT. Would I still want to read \u201cSpring\u201d? Yes, I would. This discovery would persuade me that AIs are fully human, in the best sense, and so my reluctance would go away.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In the comments, at time of writing I\u2019m the only person to have disagreed. I wrote off the top of my head:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I am on the same kick – London and the South-East was terrific (and very funny) and I have Spring in my queue. And yet, I would not have this reaction. When I read a Szalay novel, I have in mind as I read<\/em> that there is a man named David Szalay who lives in this world who sat down and wrote this, that this human had a story he wanted to tell, hoping readers would get something from it. If I were told there is just David-Szalay-GPT, I would feel tricked (much as people in the past have been tricked by fake paintings), and I would know the copy of Spring on my shelf was not written by a man with a story he wanted to tell, and I would put it in the recycling bin. In music, painting, fiction, I want to know there is a human trying to say something – I\u2019m not just looking for pleasing sounds and images and words.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

So let me try to expand with something beyond the top of my head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All an AI novel (or song, or visual image) can do is draw upon what exists in digital form on the internet. Programs can get very good at drawing from those sources – whilst there is an awful lot of AI slop out there, I feel pretty certain that it will eventually get less sloppy. But it is still limited to a particular, and limited, sort of knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any artist worth the name brings something to their work beyond the art that has gone before. Their lives, their emotions, their sensations. And none of this is available to an AI program. I could try to prompt AI into writing something like David Szalay, and it could read his previous works as well as other authors, but that would be its only<\/em> source. A good program could fool at least some readers, no doubt. But they are being fed a placebo. And placebos don\u2019t work once people are told that\u2019s what it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I imagined an artist who specialized in drawings of cats. At a gallery opening, someone says to the artist, \u201cyou must really like cats – how many do you have?\u201d And the artist replies, \u201cwell, I don\u2019t actually have any cats. In fact, I\u2019ve never actually seen a cat. I\u2019ve never played with a kitten, I\u2019ve never felt a cat\u2019s fur, I don\u2019t know what a \u2018purr\u2019 sounds like. But I\u2019ve seen pictures and videos of cats.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t think the main problem with AI-generated entertainment is that it is always terribly executed. More often than not it is, but these fakes will get better. I don\u2019t think the main issue is putting real artists out of work. I am (naively?) optimistic that enough people feel like I do about real music and real writing. And that a greater appreciation can be developed in the young to recognize what is authentic and what is worthwhile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main problem for me is that the point of art is human connection. It is not about the \u201ccontent\u201d of what is being produced; it is about an artist trying their best to connect with listeners and readers. I might be tricked by AI masquerading as human – no doubt I already have been at times. But once I know it was a trick, I\u2019m out. I\u2019m not just looking for a sequence of words. I want to hear from somebody who has lived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cross-posted at https:\/\/michaelrushton.substack.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[A human named David Szalay]. Paul Bloom posted this note on Substack: I\u2019ve always thought that I would never want to read an AI-written novel, no matter how objectively well-written it is. But I\u2019m starting to question this. I\u2019m on a real David Szalay kick these days; last night, I finished \u201cLondon and the South-East\u201d, which was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4674","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3dIW5-1do","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4615,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2025\/11\/ai-and-artists-and-rights\/","url_meta":{"origin":4674,"position":0},"title":"AI and artists and rights","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"November 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"There is a recent piece at Lawfare, by Simon Goldstein and Peter N. Salib, \u201cCopyright should not protect artists from artificial intelligence.\u201d The article has the strawman subtitle, \u201cThe purpose of intellectual property law is to incentivize the production of new ideas, not to function as a welfare scheme for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-2.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-2.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-2.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-2.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3806,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2025\/05\/on-the-frontiers-of-ai\/","url_meta":{"origin":4674,"position":1},"title":"On the frontiers of AI","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"May 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Prelude, from The Onion: https:\/\/theonion.com\/pragues-franz-kafka-international-named-worlds-most-ali-1819594798\/ Now then. A few days ago, my son googled \u201cFranz Kafka Airport\u201d and here is what Google AI came up with: Being a public spirited sort, son informed Google that they might want to tweak this a wee bit. 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Preliminary:\u00a0Levitin\u00a0is James McGill Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Neuroscience at McGill University, and the author of many books - I came to know him long ago for his\u00a0This is Your Brain\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/image.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/image.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1541,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/09\/what-have-the-romans-ever-done-for-us\/","url_meta":{"origin":4674,"position":3},"title":"What have the Romans ever done for us?","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"September 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Think of your cultural consumption in your late teens. 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I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"stones were so much better then","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/records.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/records.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/records.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/records.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4662,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2026\/03\/colleges-students-and-jobs-nobody-knows-anything\/","url_meta":{"origin":4674,"position":4},"title":"Colleges, students, and jobs: nobody knows anything","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"March 9, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"In my past life I spent some time in university administration, and one of my jobs at this public university was to take proposals for new degree programs that the university had approved of to the state board of higher education, for\u00a0their\u00a0necessary approval. 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