Pluralistic: Writing vs AI (07 Jan 2026)

Today's links

Writing vs AI: If you wouldn't ask an AI to eat a delicious pizza for you, why would you ask it to write a college essay?
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: WELL State of the World; A poem in 30m logfiles; Weapons of Math Destruction; The cost of keeping "13" a British secret; Congress v. "Little Green Men"; "Food and Climate Change Without the Hot Air"
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Theodora Goss's 'Letters From an Imaginary Country': Short stories so expertly spun you'll hardly know you've been ensnared.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: "Agent To the Stars"; Smart TV spying; 3D printing and the law; Google open sources AI; Microchip "dark matter."
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

A weekend's worth of links: Short hits for a long weekend.
Object permanence: Floppy disk CD sleeves; Rules for radicals; California's preventable fires; Muppet Haunted Mansion; Wells Fargo steals rescued Nazi loot; Texas abortion release.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Christopher Brown's 'A Natural History of Empty Lots': A gorgeous, lush tale of the nature bursting through every seam.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
This day in history: 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019, 2023
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

How plausible sentence generators are changing the bullshit wars: My September column in Locus Magazine.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
This day in history: 2008, 2013, 2018
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Private equity plunderers want to buy Simon & Schuster: From the same parasites that infected your hospital's emergency room and sucked Toys R Us dry.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
This day in history: 2008, 2013, 2018
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

The art of Daniel Danger: The best thing I saw at Comic-Con.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
This day in history: 2003, 2008, 2013, 2018
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Revenge of the Linkdumps: Something for the weekend, sir?
This day in history: 2003, 2008, 2013, 2018, 2022
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading