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

[npars01@mstdn.social]

@cstross

Really looking forward to the AI bubble bursting.

https://fortune.com/2026/03/08/joseph-stiglitz-ai-future-burst-bubble-job-security-assisting/

https://beth-kindig.medium.com/tech-bubble-warnings-cost-investors-a-550-nasdaq-100-run-6bf1b0cb54f5

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/06/ai-sell-off-stocks-amazon-oracle.html

https://www.forbes.com/sites/gilpress/2026/02/27/the-state-of-the-17-trillion-ai-bubble-the-end-of-thinking/

https://archive.is/t1Z5l
https://www.ft.com/content/a4c4dcf8-7a73-4912-9739-c94714985bfd

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/30/ai-bubble-mozilla

https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/blinking-new-warning-sign-ai-industry

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/jan/18/tech-ai-bubble-burst-reverse-centaur

[burningtyger@nrw.social]

@cstross What's all that supposed to be? Chairs winding through the room? Two tables floating into one, the girl reading stuff on the table in the front while hers is empty? A weird lokking box with a plant on it that grows into the table and a chair next to it? This is AI generated.

[digicom@mastodon.art]

@cstross

The original image is not marked as AI:

https://www.freepik.com/premium-photo/smiling-woman-is-enjoying-herself-cozy-cafe-while-savoring-hot-beverage-aig58_260988593.htm

But most of the images on that profile with that topic are:

https://www.freepik.com/search?format=search&last_filter=query&last_value=%40frolopiaton-palm+woman+cafe+cozy+smiling&query=%40frolopiaton-palm+woman+cafe+cozy+smiling&sort=recent#uuid=e5cf2f50-8b1a-4333-a8db-b08fe2b39ff9

[cstross@wandering.shop]

@burningTyger My eyesight isn't good enough to examine images. (I'm awaiting cataract surgery in one eye and am half-blind in the other.)

[scaletheory@mastodon.social]

@cstross

What's this say about society?

I thought "made with real cheese" or "no artificial flavors" was bad. Why we making fake cheese anyway... profits for stock investors...

Always fighting against evil we are.

[wordshaper@weatherishappening.network]

@Npars01 @cstross I'd say the current wave of AI investment is the greatest misallocation of resources in human history but I suspect we could legit Homer Simpson that one because I have faith in humanity that we can misallocate even *more* resources in the future somehow.

[lazarou@mastodon.social]

@cstross "aaaaaand they used AI-generated artwork"

jfc, they had ONE job....

[datarama@hachyderm.io]

@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.)

[cassolotl@eldritch.cafe]

@cstross

> EDIT: aaaaaand they used AI-generated artwork ‍️

That AI illustration isn't visible on their website now, so I assume it was a mistake and they removed it when they noticed.

[ainmosni@social.ainmosni.eu]

@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.

[unkx@icosahedron.website]

@Lazarou @cstross the had ONE job and they decided to outsource it to slop machines ‍️

[datarama@hachyderm.io]

@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.

[meganl@mas.to]

@cstross Unfortunately I've seen this a lot - authors using AI artwork based on theft while decrying theft of their writing....

It's more of leopards eating faces, I guess...

#FuckAI

[pseudonym@mastodon.online]

@Lazarou @cstross

Ouch! The irony, it burns!

[ainmosni@social.ainmosni.eu]

@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.

[lemmus@social.vivaldi.net]

@ainmosni @datarama @cstross

_My_ field requires human finesse and insight, but those other fields are perfectly well served with AI slop. Which makes it really fascinating how many developers willingly destroy their code bases with slop. (Some are forced to, but many enough do it eagerly and willingly...) (Yes, I'm a developer. Yes, I refuse to work with genAI.)

[datarama@hachyderm.io]

@Lemmus @ainmosni @cstross I'm in that boat too, but I think it's a matter of time before I'm pushed out of the industry (inasmuch as the industry survives at all).

[lemmus@social.vivaldi.net]

@datarama

Yeah, interesting times, indeed...

[ainmosni@social.ainmosni.eu]

@datarama @Lemmus @cstross It depends, it's all built on a massive amount of subsidies, and even then, it looks like it's already doing more damage than even the slop pushers are willing to tolerate (although they're still in denial).

I wouldn't be surprised if it goes the way you say, but also not if this ends blowing up in their faces.

[datarama@hachyderm.io]

@ainmosni @Lemmus @cstross I really don't know. And that scares me, to be honest. The slop machines got a lot better than I thought they would, and also they improved faster than I thought they would.

Software dev is basically the only thing I can do, so if the entire field does get steamrolled by AI, I'm pretty screwed.

But hey: *Usually* the smart money isn't on the very worried guy who happens to have a clinical anxiety disorder or two being right. I could well be wrong!