Ich danke dir André!

Every enlightened person shows off their library. Yet the people who make the coffee that makes them shit in the morning can make a living wage whereas most writers cannot. Housekeepers (who provide a useful service and whose labor should be respected) earn more than writers on average.

We claim to be a civilisation that cherishes knowledge and books but the very people who create them are the ones least able to support themselves from this endeavour. Yet we accept this as normal. I think it is a damn shame and our problem is certainly not AI.

I find publishing one of the least business minded and least creative of all the business endeavours I have tried to study. I cannot count how many times publishers, agents, editors and people in the book business just respond to an idea with: that won’t work/sell. Too little innovation.

Too many people who have no idea how to run a business or make money are busy setting up mushroom publishing houses that contribute to the impoverishment of writers. Yes, we can blame much of this on the way capitalism operates. But this is the world we live in. Publishers must adapt. Writers too.

We need more serious business thinkers and innovators in publishing and fewer ideologues and hobbyists. If we respect books and writing then there is no reason a serious writer should not be able to earn as much as a barista in a city. We would not accept this for any other sector.

Instead of pushing for proper models that can provide something close to a living wage for writers, fortunate writers who are able to earn from books are signing petitions against AI which, warts and all, democratises knowledge and information. I will never sign any anti AI letter. Reactionary.

I personally want the death of the current traditional #publishing models. If AI will achieve that, then fine. If any other business operated the way publishing operated there would be zero business case for most publishers today. No one seems to think #writers should be able to live from #writing.

Also when I see writers writing petitions about AI, I wish I saw the same energy with the near comatose publishing industry which has effectively made sure writing is not a viable profession for most people, rewarding only the most popular and forcing all others to seek other jobs to survive.

The question is how can we make sure AI is not another predatory capitalist tool that destroys society, how can we make sure it helps and not harms? Not seeking the death of AI. I really don’t care if AI uses my books to learn. I am already not earning much from them anyway.