What is this about?
Scarcely Human is a newsletter is about working with large language models to create fiction. For an overview, you may want to read my introductory post, here.
Is it just going to be about that?
Nope, it isn’t. It’ll also be about writing fiction generally — since part of the point is to talk about how generative AI fits into the creative process and why writers might consider playing with it, what its limits are, and where human decision-making figures into things, I will definitely be talking about aspects of writing that may be familiar: prompts as generative devices, the use of constraints, technique, revision, and so forth.
Why should I read it?
If you’re interested in the ways fiction can be written and how it works, If you’re AI-curious, if you’re a writer or artist working with AI, if you’re skeptical about using AI or maybe even actively against it, if AI seems to you to be fascinating, intimidating, terrifying, and frustrating at the same time, if you are familiar with the perils of succumbing to the ELIZA effect, this newsletter may interest you.
How often do you post to it?
I don’t know yet.
Is it free?
It is for now. I haven’t figured out yet whether, or what, to charge, or for what kind of posts, or even if anyone is particularly interested.
Who is behind this?
It is I, Christopher Sorrentino, a novelist, memoirist, and short story writer. I have published six books, including Trance, a National Book Award Finalist for fiction, and my work has appeared in The Baffler, The Believer, Bookforum, Conjunctions, Esquire, Granta, Harper's, The Los Angeles Times, McSweeney's, The New York Times, Open City, The Paris Review, Playboy, Tin House, and many other publications. I’ve taught at Columbia University, NYU, the New School, Fairleigh Dickinson University, and at the Unterberg Poetry Center of the 92nd Street Y. You can find out more about me here.
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