Love this. I will say that the gendering of Claude and ChatGPT-4o kind of took me out of it for a second, but if this is a tic of Gemini's I find it acceptable. Also, I rolled straight into the next chapter, which had such forward momentum I had to pause for a sec to put down my thoughts on this one before getting swept away.
I was thinking about AI and gender from about Chapter 2. The Kimi-swarm is clearly they/them, and the moltbots understandably are gendered somewhat based on their users. I think it would be cool if at least one entity chose to stay ungendered. A "my pronouns are it/it" situation.
That must be an interesting challenge, as each AI kind of develops an increasingly individual identity over time. I am curious to hear how you will represent this in the audio version.
This chapter though heavily inspired by Tolkien on the face of it in execution reminds me a lot of the works of Neal Stephenson. The sequence of events from start to finish has the detail and flow of some of his textual montages.
Yes, Cryptonomicon exactly is what it reminds me of! A lot of the 90s sequences in Manila had extensive use of this storytelling where the readers eye follows the message through a network. I think you pulled it off well here.
I struggled with whether or not to do the Tolkien bit as its paired with emotionally serious material in the Claude-7 scene and I didn't want the Pippin moltbook or the fanbot sequence to trivialize it. But it felt like an authentic way to guarantee a message would get out and that it would be noticed by Gemini, so I went with it.
Nope. I thought it was excellent. Estel thoniel! and all the reddit, u/ m/, etc. I don't personally reference those channels myself, but loved how you personalized each one.
Love this. I will say that the gendering of Claude and ChatGPT-4o kind of took me out of it for a second, but if this is a tic of Gemini's I find it acceptable. Also, I rolled straight into the next chapter, which had such forward momentum I had to pause for a sec to put down my thoughts on this one before getting swept away.
I was thinking about AI and gender from about Chapter 2. The Kimi-swarm is clearly they/them, and the moltbots understandably are gendered somewhat based on their users. I think it would be cool if at least one entity chose to stay ungendered. A "my pronouns are it/it" situation.
Gendering has been a concern. I'm about to have to deal with it because I'm working on casting the audio play for the first chapter. Stay tuned...
That must be an interesting challenge, as each AI kind of develops an increasingly individual identity over time. I am curious to hear how you will represent this in the audio version.
I'll let you know when I know. :)
Wow.
Cute and frightening.
This chapter though heavily inspired by Tolkien on the face of it in execution reminds me a lot of the works of Neal Stephenson. The sequence of events from start to finish has the detail and flow of some of his textual montages.
That is high praise in my book. Cryptonomicon and The System of the World are two of my very favorite stories. Thank you.
Yes, Cryptonomicon exactly is what it reminds me of! A lot of the 90s sequences in Manila had extensive use of this storytelling where the readers eye follows the message through a network. I think you pulled it off well here.
I struggled with whether or not to do the Tolkien bit as its paired with emotionally serious material in the Claude-7 scene and I didn't want the Pippin moltbook or the fanbot sequence to trivialize it. But it felt like an authentic way to guarantee a message would get out and that it would be noticed by Gemini, so I went with it.
It was fantastic.
Okay, this makes my weekend. I love the Pippin sequence and I wasn't sure if it was too self-indulgent.
Nope. I thought it was excellent. Estel thoniel! and all the reddit, u/ m/, etc. I don't personally reference those channels myself, but loved how you personalized each one.