Welcome back to The Weekend Press! Today, Suzy Weiss on the $50 million bra that broke the internet; Josh Kaplan on the Norm Macdonald tweet that changed his life; a longtime “New York Times” obituary writer on whether his job was depressing or life-affirming. And more!
But first: Is this the death of the professional writer?
This might be a strange thing to read in a magazine that employs some of the best columnists in the business, but, in our lead essay today, Max Raskin argues that it’s getting to the point where robots can write better than almost any human.
Don’t believe him? Compare these two sentences:
Mark how the landsman, pent up all the week in lath and plaster, will of a Sabbath steal down to the wharves, and there stand, hands in his pockets, gazing seaward as though the ocean owed him money.
Let the most absent-minded of men be plunged in his deepest reveries—stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water, if water there be in all that region.
One of these was written by Herman Melville. The other is Anthropic’s Claude imitating Moby-Dick. Can you tell which is which? A lot of people Max asked, including avid readers of 19th-century novels, couldn’t tell the difference; to find out if you can, take the quiz included in his essay today.
Behind Max’s test is a serious claim: We don’t need humans to produce great writing anymore. And those who write for a living are quietly asking themselves “whether they’ve already written their last essay, the way you may have watched your last DVD or mailed your last letter without knowing it. Why would anyone pay to read them when a machine can mimic their voice, faster and cheaper?”
For answers, read Max’s full piece here:
You might not be able to tell the difference between the machine and the artist, but Pangram can—with over 99 percent accuracy. You can feed any text into this AI tool, and it’ll give you an estimate of how much of it was generated by a robot. So far, it has halted the U.S. release of a highly anticipated horror novel from Hachette, struck one novel from France’s prestigious Prix Goncourt long list, and launched countless accusations of literary fakery.
Still, Pangram has been accused of being inaccurate, racist, defamatory, and “snake oil”—and the CEO, Max Spero, told Josh Code last week that he’s expecting a lawsuit any day now.
Over two drinks in Brooklyn, Spero talked about his fears, his haters, his “desire to help save publishing,” and the mistakes his product has made. Read the full interview here:
‘Second Thought’
You know the body positivity movement is truly over when Kylie Jenner is getting fat-shamed. This week, the beauty entrepreneur—who is objectively gorgeous—appeared on the Victoria’s Secret runway wearing a $50 million diamond bra, only to be told she didn’t have the right figure, and was stealing spots from “real models.” But, in the latest episode of Second Thought, Suzy and Dan applaud the lingerie brand’s inclusivity. “It’s like having an amputee up there,” says Suzy. “It’s inspirational.”
Click the link below to watch the episode, or listen wherever you get your podcasts:
Sally Rooney’s novels will no longer be sold in the UK, because of her financial support for Palestine Action—and this week Sarah Ditum wrote that it’s just the latest example of how the author disdains her own work. Also, Suzy Weiss interviewed the man who recovers art that was taken from Jewish families during World War II, and Kara Kennedy reported on SlutCon . . .
Knock Knock, It’s Cupid!
A new batch of ads from single Free Pressers is live on our site. Click here to meet a young retiree in Williamsburg, Virginia; or an accountant-astrologer in Florida. Your special someone could be just one email away! If you’d like to take a chance at Free Press love, write a paragraph that defines you, including your age, where you live, and what you’re looking for, and send it over to Cupid@TheFP.com.
How should you spend the rest of your weekend? We asked our contributor Liel Leibovitz for his recommendations . . .
📺Watch . . .Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter. Laughton was one of the most famous actors of the 20th century. He was also a closeted bisexual who lived in a state of perpetual anxiety, so when his critics told him his directorial debut wasn’t very good, he believed them. What a pity: The Night of the Hunter is arguably Hollywood’s greatest unsung masterpiece, a Southern Gothic thriller that unfurls like a nightmare, and quite likely it’s the most gorgeous film ever made. Robert Mitchum as a murderous preacher with his knuckles tattooed “GOOD” and “EVIL” will haunt your dreams long after Halloween, as will the conviction that, in America, there’s always a kind person with grit and a gun ready to stand up and fight for what’s right.
🍸Drink . . . a real martini. The martini wasn’t invented in some swanky Manhattan lounge or some posh gentlemen’s club in London. It was crafted—and named after—Martinez, California, a way station for prospectors headed for the hills. And like the Gold Rush that inspired it, the drink, if prepared properly, can be your ticket to wild reinvention.
Remove the glass from the freezer, where you ought to keep it. Shave off a slim twist of lemon peel, no pith, and rub it on the rim to release its fragrant oils. Toss the twist in the glass and add a droplet of dry Little City Vermouth, a fine New York distillery that gets it just right. Swirl it around once or twice, and then fill it up with at least six ounces of well-chilled No. 3 London Dry Gin. Sip it quickly before it loses its crisp, and believe that everything is possible.
📚Read . . . Iain M. Banks’s The Culture series. Every billionaire in Silicon Valley is obsessed with it, and if you peruse any of the books in the decalogy, you’ll understand why. A society where machines had gotten so smart and artificial intelligence so advanced that humans, liberated from the need to work, are free to lounge about, release the drugs already preinstalled in their brains, and fornicate at will? Nice future, if we can have it.
That’s all, folks! Have a great weekend.