I am, by and large, a technophile, but I still find some aspects of the current landscape a little confusing. One of those includes the so-called Fediverse and the platforms built on and in conjunction with it. That’s why I probably report on developments in the likes of X alternative Mastodon less than I might otherwise do—I don’t want to misrepresent something as a result of confusion.
ALLi News Editor Dan Holloway
All of which is a preface to introducing an interesting new long-form subscription service launched as an alternative to Substack. The premise behind the latest version of the newsletter platform Ghost is simple (enough for even me to understand). You write your newsletter in one place, and then publish it through a single portal to a wide range of your online presences. This includes websites, social media platforms such as Threads, Mastodon, and Bluesky, RSS distribution, WordPress, as well as sending the newsletter by email.
Shifting Tone on AI Content
I don’t particularly want to draw attention to OpenArt, the company that features in the next story. But I was very interested to note the tone, opinion, and content of the TechCrunch piece covering the launch of a new one-click feature for the AI-generated art and video content provider.
Not only is the tone harshly negative (not necessarily surprising—even tech coverage is starting to recognize the lowest common denominator race to the bottom of AI content), but there is considerable attention given to both the ethical and legal consequences of using copyrighted material without consent. The piece is a warning to would-be users of such platforms that doing so is not consequence-free. It feels like a very interesting shift in the landscape.
AI-Generated Junk Books Still on Amazon
And finally, talking of junk content, the publication of comedian Rhys James’ new book has brought the problem of AI content on Amazon back into the public eye. Remember when Jane Friedman reported that Amazon was selling AI-generated nonsense purporting to be authored by her? This is essentially the same thing.
And despite Amazon’s attempts (and protestations of attempts) to eliminate such content, it doesn’t show any sign of going away. As the Publishers Association has pointed out, this undermines consumer confidence in what they are buying.
And, of course, if people are more wary of buying books on Amazon, that could hit indie income hard.
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