I personally believe that the end of a course or the end of a training or the end of a book should bring change, but I also believe that that's a false metric. Every page or at least every chapter should also bring that change. If you're in a training course, then every two hours should bring the change. The client should feel empowered and more confident by the end of a certain section, and this is easily expressed with the concept of "enjoy the journey, not just the destination."
I sometimes have to go through a dozen books just to find something that I can get through to the end. It's not any different for courses. They're simply not designed properly. They're not designed for me to enjoy the journey. It's all continuous economy class instead of business class, and I don't know why this has to be the case.
I understand when you are starting out that you might not know how to go about these things. That's fine. Once you get to a certain level, then if you don't make the journey enjoyable for the reader/client, then that is just why AI seems to be a better option for many.
I think there's a difference between AI slop and an average writer. Or average written material. Average can be classified in many ways, and usually I'd classify average as "lack of change".
I read a book recently by an author (we both know). He's dedicated, and an excellent writer. Half way through the book, I was skimming. Why? Because the cover of the book did all the work. Yes, the stories in the book were excellent, but that wasn't creating any "change".
Change can be experienced in many ways.If you're a comedian, then the change can be described as:
- how people respond to your jokes
- when they laugh
- how often they laugh
- the intensity of the laugh
If you're writing a self-help book and the client changes the way that they do things, then that change can be described as short-term change, long-term change, even permanent change. However, unless the author is aiming for that specific change, they are going to end up just filling pages. And if the author is well known, then I suppose there is some pressure from a publisher or agent to get yet another book out while the going is good.
This doesn't help very much if you are the reader who's paying a decent enough price for that book. Not only are you paying in dollars, but in terms of time. For me, having to skim through half the book only to find that there was yet another story and really no additional point was very frustrating.
So unless there is enough change, whether that change be laughter, sadness, or some sort of physical or mental change, we will encounter slop "without" AI.
AI will only speed up the demise, in these situations.
I've never been a fan of Ferris, but since you posted a link. I went on to read his post, and it was really well written, and those figures are definitely what we have experienced. We've been in this non-fiction self-help space for close to 25 years, and there has definitely been a drop in sales since 2022, but more so now than ever. Now we work with really small groups of people, and we've never gone for the bestseller list despite clients bugging us to do so. However, just moving to 1000 true fans is in itself is an uphill task for most.
Our clients have been buying books from us all the way going back to around 2002, so that means that a client is likely to have at least a dozen books, and a few courses (priced anywhere between $800-2000). And yes, every single course has seen a considerable dip, even with this extreme level of "loyal readership".
There is a real reason why this dip exists. I'll give you an example. I have a friend, and let's call her Jenny. One of the courses that we teach is Cartooning, and we not only teach it but we guarantee the skill. This means that you can start off with saying "I can't draw," and then in under 12 weeks you reach a level where people mistake you for being a professional.
Now, going back almost six years, Jenny said that she liked the idea of drawing but would prefer if she could be tapped on the head with the magic wand. It's safe to say that all of us would like to be tapped on the head with a magic wand, because in my opinion nobody really wants to go through the headache of learning. If you could speak French and Japanese in the next ten seconds, then why go through three to five years of extensive learning? All of that learning seems seductive on page one and page two, but by the time you pass the first chapter, it's just hard work.
Which is why AI seems to be winning the game by a big margin. It feels like a magic wand. You can ask it to summarise a book, a chapter, and especially a YouTube video. But summaries are only useful once you have gone through the process. If you simply work with summaries, you don't get the depth of the information, and it is almost impossible to implement it like it was intended.
However, perception is reality, and therefore this dip will continue to become a crevasse. I don't think there is any way around it. Maybe the answer to this problem is that writers will have to be more interesting than they are.
Maybe they will have to be more surprising. Because surprise still exists everywhere.
___________________
Will the downslide persist? I think so, and we have the figures to prove it. So summaries seem to be winning so far, even with exceedingly good content.
I personally believe that the end of a course or the end of a training or the end of a book should bring change, but I also believe that that's a false metric. Every page or at least every chapter should also bring that change. If you're in a training course, then every two hours should bring the change. The client should feel empowered and more confident by the end of a certain section, and this is easily expressed with the concept of "enjoy the journey, not just the destination."
I sometimes have to go through a dozen books just to find something that I can get through to the end. It's not any different for courses. They're simply not designed properly. They're not designed for me to enjoy the journey. It's all continuous economy class instead of business class, and I don't know why this has to be the case.
I understand when you are starting out that you might not know how to go about these things. That's fine. Once you get to a certain level, then if you don't make the journey enjoyable for the reader/client, then that is just why AI seems to be a better option for many.
It's interesting to note that the Tim Ferris post you mention comes to pretty much the same conclusion that you do.
Yes! DO THE WORK. Do the legwork. Do the interviews. Test your ideas. Improve your ideas. Find your voice. Socialize your thinking.
Well said David!
I write scripts for movies I want to watch bc no one else is. And then I make those movies bc I want to see them. So yes.
Well, that's great :)
I mean, you asked, I answered? Was I supposed to say no?
Not at all. I was talking about prescriptive nonfiction books, but glad you’re doing well as a filmmaker!
Would you buy your own book?
I think there's a difference between AI slop and an average writer. Or average written material. Average can be classified in many ways, and usually I'd classify average as "lack of change".
I read a book recently by an author (we both know). He's dedicated, and an excellent writer. Half way through the book, I was skimming. Why? Because the cover of the book did all the work. Yes, the stories in the book were excellent, but that wasn't creating any "change".
Change can be experienced in many ways.If you're a comedian, then the change can be described as:
- how people respond to your jokes
- when they laugh
- how often they laugh
- the intensity of the laugh
If you're writing a self-help book and the client changes the way that they do things, then that change can be described as short-term change, long-term change, even permanent change. However, unless the author is aiming for that specific change, they are going to end up just filling pages. And if the author is well known, then I suppose there is some pressure from a publisher or agent to get yet another book out while the going is good.
This doesn't help very much if you are the reader who's paying a decent enough price for that book. Not only are you paying in dollars, but in terms of time. For me, having to skim through half the book only to find that there was yet another story and really no additional point was very frustrating.
So unless there is enough change, whether that change be laughter, sadness, or some sort of physical or mental change, we will encounter slop "without" AI.
AI will only speed up the demise, in these situations.
I've never been a fan of Ferris, but since you posted a link. I went on to read his post, and it was really well written, and those figures are definitely what we have experienced. We've been in this non-fiction self-help space for close to 25 years, and there has definitely been a drop in sales since 2022, but more so now than ever. Now we work with really small groups of people, and we've never gone for the bestseller list despite clients bugging us to do so. However, just moving to 1000 true fans is in itself is an uphill task for most.
Our clients have been buying books from us all the way going back to around 2002, so that means that a client is likely to have at least a dozen books, and a few courses (priced anywhere between $800-2000). And yes, every single course has seen a considerable dip, even with this extreme level of "loyal readership".
There is a real reason why this dip exists. I'll give you an example. I have a friend, and let's call her Jenny. One of the courses that we teach is Cartooning, and we not only teach it but we guarantee the skill. This means that you can start off with saying "I can't draw," and then in under 12 weeks you reach a level where people mistake you for being a professional.
Now, going back almost six years, Jenny said that she liked the idea of drawing but would prefer if she could be tapped on the head with the magic wand. It's safe to say that all of us would like to be tapped on the head with a magic wand, because in my opinion nobody really wants to go through the headache of learning. If you could speak French and Japanese in the next ten seconds, then why go through three to five years of extensive learning? All of that learning seems seductive on page one and page two, but by the time you pass the first chapter, it's just hard work.
Which is why AI seems to be winning the game by a big margin. It feels like a magic wand. You can ask it to summarise a book, a chapter, and especially a YouTube video. But summaries are only useful once you have gone through the process. If you simply work with summaries, you don't get the depth of the information, and it is almost impossible to implement it like it was intended.
However, perception is reality, and therefore this dip will continue to become a crevasse. I don't think there is any way around it. Maybe the answer to this problem is that writers will have to be more interesting than they are.
Maybe they will have to be more surprising. Because surprise still exists everywhere.
___________________
Will the downslide persist? I think so, and we have the figures to prove it. So summaries seem to be winning so far, even with exceedingly good content.