Mastodawn

Charlie Stross Mar 10

The Society of Authors (UK) is helping launch this: an identifier for human-authored (i.e. non-AI) books: https://humanauthored.co.uk/

EDIT: aaaaaand they used AI-generated artwork 🤦🏻‍♂️

EDIT UPDATE: they ditched the AI-generated art. Good.

Home - Human Authored

In a world of generative AI, recognising human creativity is vital This is why we’re developing a Human Authored mark to enable all types of writers and literary translators to label their work as Human Authored. The scheme is set to launch on Tuesday, 10 March 2026 at 5pm GMT. Days Hours Minutes Seconds

Human Authored

Tru Huynh Mar 10

@cstross This is how they get us.

Writers would never use AI-generated slop writing, but they'll happily use AI-generated slop imagery.
Artists would never use AI-generated slop imagery, but they'll happily display art to AI-generated slop music.
Musicians would never use AI-generated slop music, but they'll happily use AI-generated slop writing for lyrics.

(And nobody cares about AI-generated slop code.)

@datarama @cstross I wish I could say that people cared about slop code, but too many devs are showing just how little they care about the quality of their work.

datarama Mar 10

@ainmosni @cstross I mean, I do - but I know I'm very much swimming against the stream here, and also the stream is full of piranhas.

@datarama @cstross I do as well, and everyone in my bubble does as well, but then again, I've also been picky about my bubble, and I'm assuming the worst from outside it.

@ainmosni @datarama @cstross Development is fairly unique among the creative professions in that it contains a lot of primarily financially focused careerists who know that the way to succeed ( and now survive ) is to ride whatever the current wave of hype is.

Charlie Stross Mar 10

@toerror @ainmosni @datarama This is new this century. I think things were rather different in the 20th century, changing significantly from the early 1970s through to the late 1990s. The new finance focus has really taken root since 2008. (Which was, oh, 18 years ago, so a generation. /me: old now.)

datarama Mar 10

@toerror @ainmosni @cstross It's also fairly unique in that most of the practicioners don't regard themselves as members of a creative profession at all.

datarama Mar 10

@toerror @ainmosni @cstross As I've been saying for the last three years or so:

Programming is an art form, and we know this because the tech industry came to destroy programming at exactly the same time it came to destroy all other art.

@ainmosni @datarama @cstross

I have seen firsthand how programmers get actively deskilled with slop code.

People I respected stopped being able to explain and justify the changes they pushed.
Because they did not remember. Because they did not write it.

ANYWAYS

https://www.ft.com/content/7cab4ec7-4712-4137-b602-119a44f771de

"Ecommerce giant says there has been a ‘trend of incidents’ linked to ‘Gen-AI assisted changes’"

Amazon holds engineering meeting following AI-related outages

Ecommerce giant says there has been a ‘trend of incidents’ linked to ‘Gen-AI assisted changes’

Financial Times

FunHouse Radio Mar 10

@datarama @cstross
I hate autotune but I love drum machines. Maybe hypocrisy. Idk.

@datarama @cstross This is it. The danger is that generative AI content is corrosive to human connection.

J M Berntson Mar 10

@datarama @cstross I wish more coders would, but at least I know I'm not alone in hating all kinds of AI slop.

@jedimb there are at least some of us left. @datarama @cstross

Nick Radcliffe Mar 11

@datarama @cstross It’s depressingly Pastor Niemöller (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_They_Came).

First They Came - Wikipedia

Kris Herbert Mar 11

@datarama @cstross this is why developing skills in multiple areas is so important. That way, we get hives from all the slop, not just one type.

(I find I yick hard regardless of media type. As far as my brain is concerned, it’s shoggoths all the way down.)

datarama Mar 11

@Hareguizer @cstross That's me, I guess. I make software for a living, but I also used to draw (and make pixel art), play a couple of musical instruments, and write (bad) short fiction.

This is wonderful! It means that living in 2026 is a giant pile of unending disgust.